Behavioral policy & interventions
How incentives, information, and behavioral interventions shape individual choices and policy outcomes across health, education, work, and sustainability.
Applied Microeconomist
Sarah
Zaccagni
I am an applied microeconomist specializing in behavioral and experimental economics. I study how people respond to incentives, information, technology, and public policy.
Research
Understanding decisions.
Designing better policy.
My work combines field experiments, randomized controlled trials, online experiments, and observational data to understand how people respond to interventions and public policy.
AI & technology
How people use, evaluate, and respond to AI—and how technology changes productivity, confidence, and decision-making.
Gender & social norms
How identity, stereotypes, and norms influence competition, cooperation, leadership, and the interpretation of information.
Publications
All publicationsStep into Action: How Reminders Shape Engagement in Fitness Apps
With Beatrice Braut and Claire Mollier
For God, Family, and Country: The Moral Power of Authorities
With Paolo Falco, Remidius D. Ruhinduka, Wilhelm Ngasamiaku, and Gerald P. Lesseri
Gender of the Opponent and Reaction to Competition Outcomes
With Claire Mollier, Aurora García-Gallego, and Tarek Jaber-López
More Than a Ban on Smoking? Behavioural Spillovers of Smoking Bans in the Workplace
With Joan Costa-Font and Luca Salmasi
Measures of Cognitive Ability and Choice Inconsistency
With Helene Willadsen, Marco Piovesan, and Erik Wengström
Ongoing research
Questions with practical stakes
Current work uses experiments and applied microeconomic methods to study AI, belief formation, international relations, and mobility.
Explore ongoing researchWho Gets Credit When Workers Use AI?
An online experiment examining how disclosure of AI use changes the credit and rewards workers receive for their performance.
With Toke FosgaardGender Stereotypes, Fake News and Belief Updating
An experiment testing whether stereotypes shape the perceived authenticity of news and influence broader beliefs—even when a story is labelled false.
With Daniele Nosenzo and Simone QuerciaSoft Power Erosion and Misperceived Social Norms
Survey experiments studying how the Greenland crisis affects attitudes, costly economic action, and beliefs about how others respond.
With Adrien Dautheville, Paolo Falco, and Tarek Jaber-LópezEngines of Change
A household panel and GPS study evaluating how gasoline motorbike restrictions affect mobility, welfare, congestion, and electric-vehicle adoption in Hanoi.
With Paolo Falco, Minh Kieu, Jos van Ommeren, and Francis OstermeijerTeaching
Bringing evidence into the classroom.
Behavioral Economics
Current
Globalization and European Economies
Current
Applied Economic Consulting
2024–2026
Economics of Education
Previous
About
Economics with a practical purpose.
Sarah Zaccagni is an applied microeconomist specializing in behavioral and experimental economics, and a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor at DTU Management.
Previously, she was an Assistant Professor at Aarhus University and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Copenhagen. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Turin and Collegio Carlo Alberto.
Alongside her academic work, she contributes to evidence-based policymaking through collaborations with public institutions and behavioral policy initiatives.
Contact