Altruistic Capital Lab
Catalysing individual and common flourishing.
Unlocking Human Productive Potential
Building a global evidence base on humans at work.
Active Research Areas
Future of Work(ers)
As AI and new technologies change our workplace, we study how to empower workers to navigate through changes with agency and explore how new technologies can support their journeys.
Community Contribution
The desire and ability to contribute to our community is a significant part of individual and collective purpose. We study how work can be oriented towards community contribution, and how our communities can be a source of strength in responding to challenges.
Cultures of Inclusion
We investigate inclusion and collaboration in the workplace, using rigorous scientific evaluations that study productivity outcomes, informing best practices for flourishing of all.
Learn more: Current Research Projects
The Theory of Altruistic Capital
The work of the Altruistic Capital Lab is premised on the development of an innovative framework to understand unlocking human productive potential: this is the theory of “Altruistic Capital”, which Professors Ashraf and Bandiera first proposed in 2017. Altruistic capital encompasses both the desire and the ability to contribute; just like other forms of capital, it can accumulate through investment or be depleted. Starting from the premise that all individuals have a desire, however small, to contribute, we posit that altruistic capital is accumulated through repeated altruistic actions in all domains of life.
“How selfish soever a man may be, there are some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except for the pleasure of seeing it… the greatest ruffian, the most hardened violator of society is not without it.”
Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)
Learn more: Expert videos on Altruistic Capital
Selected Research Outputs
Gender Gaps Across the Spectrum of Development: Local Talent and Firm Productivity
Nava Ashraf, Oriana Bandiera, Virginia Minni and Victor Quintas-Martinez
We ask whether the gendered division of work affects firm productivity across the spectrum of economic development. Personnel records of over 100,000 individuals hired by a global firm that operates in 100 countries reveal that the performance of female employees is higher where women are underrepresented in the candidate pool…
The Distinctive Values of Bankers
Nava Ashraf, Oriana Bandiera and Alexia Delfino
In this paper, we gather data on values held by 38, 827 employees of a major multinational bank in 55 countries around the world. Using the same questions as those asked in the World Values Survey, we are able to ask how aligned or misaligned bankers are with the values of the countries in which they work, and how this differs depending on their rank within the organization…
Meaning at Work
Nava Ashraf, Oriana Bandiera, Virginia Minni and Luigi Zingales
Firms traditionally use performance rewards to align the workers’ objectives to their own. In this paper, we evaluate a firm’s attempt to do the opposite, that is, to help employees realize their purpose and encourage them to pursue it at work…
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