Professor Bhanot is a behavioral and public economist, and an Assistant Professor of Economics at Swarthmore. His research centers on field experiments that use behavioral science concepts to influence decision-making, with a focus on pro-social behavior and various issues related to public policy, development, and poverty.

He is also a Research Affiliate at the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics, a Senior Researcher at the Applied Cooperation Team (ACT) at Yale University, and a founding member of the Philadelphia Behavioral Science Initiative. He is also serving as President of the Behavioral and Experimental Economists of the Mid-Atlantic (BEEMA), a group of regional academics studying behavioral and experimental economics, in 2017-2018. Professor Bhanot is also an award-winning teacher, having taught courses at Harvard, Brown, and Northeastern, among others. See his personal website for more.

In his free time, Professor Bhanot is an avid golfer and is fond of playing guitar, watching sports, and spending time with his wife Susie and his dogs, Humphrey and Lola.

Recent Research and Press

Bhanot, S.P., J. Han and C. Jang. 2018. Workfare, Wellbeing and Consumption: Evidence from a Field Experiment with Kenya’s Urban Poor. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 149: 372-388.

Bhanot, S.P., G. Kraft-Todd, D. Rand and E. Yoeli. 2018. Putting Social Rewards and Identity Salience to the Test: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Teachers in Philadelphia. Journal of Behavioral Public Administration 1: 1-16.

Bhanot, S.P. 2017. Rank and Response: A Field Experiment on Peer Information and Water Use Behavior. Journal of Economic Psychology 62: 155-172.

Yoeli, E., S.P. Bhanot, G. Kraft-Todd, and D. Rand. May 15, 2015. How to Get People to Pitch In. New York Times: Gray Matter.