Scientific Definition
When budgets follow self-reported numbers, the numbers drift toward what funders want to see.
Plain-English Definition
When budgets follow self-reported numbers, the numbers drift toward what funders want to see.
Feynman Explanation
Show me the incentive, I'll show you the number.
Core Principle
When budgets follow self-reported numbers, the numbers drift toward what funders want to see.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
When budgets follow self-reported numbers, the numbers drift toward what funders want to see.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Self-reporting + funding is a corruption pipeline.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Show me the incentive, I'll show you the number.
Examples
- Aid metrics, fundraising metrics, charity outputs.
- Self-reporting + funding is a corruption pipeline.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Independent audit. Outcome verification.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Independent audit. Outcome verification.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Deep specialization improves local output but breaks cross-domain understanding.
Once-a-year feedback rewards once-a-year behavior.
The more a quantitative indicator drives decisions, the more it distorts the process it measures.
Donors penalize 'overhead'; charities under-invest in capacity.
Donors penalize 'overhead' and starve capacity that produces outcomes.
A reward designed to reduce X produces more X.
Squeezing all slack from a system optimizes throughput but eliminates resilience.
'Equal value' exchanges incentivize subjective appraisal gaming to trade low-utility land for high-value public assets.
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
Greedy improvement loops climb hills that aren't the highest hill.
When rewards don't match stated values, culture quietly decays toward what is rewarded.
Insulation from risk changes the risks people take.