Research Associate
El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics and Policy
BSc (University of Bochum), MSc (University of Mannheim), PhD (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
My research focuses on behavioural public policy, with a particular emphasis on sustainability, decision-making in the public sector, and the use of behavioural science in public organisations. The overarching aim of my research is to improve decisions about behaviour change in policy.
Professional experience
Dr Malte Dewies is a behavioural scientist with a background in psychology at the El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics and Policy at Cambridge Judge Business School. He also holds a postdoctoral position at Copenhagen Business School, where he works on an ERC-funded project investigating how consumers and citizens respond to the rollback of environmental policies. His research focuses on behavioural public policy, with particular interests in sustainability, public sector decision-making, and how organisations can apply and benefit from behavioural science knowledge.
His work is strongly interdisciplinary, drawing on psychology, behavioural economics and policy studies to deepen understanding of behaviour in public sector organisations. Methodologically, he combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to generate robust empirical evidence.
Dr Dewies holds a PhD in Psychology from Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he was supervised by Professors Semiha Denktas and Kirsten Rohde and conducted collaborative research with local government as part of a behavioural science unit, developing and testing behavioural interventions. His dissertation was awarded cum laude, a special distinction.
His research has been published in international, peer-reviewed journals such as Public Management Review, Communications Earth & Environment, and Behavioural Public Policy. It has featured in national media outlets and government reports. He engages regularly with public sector organisations to learn from practice and share findings and insights.
Malte is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and regularly teaches at the university. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.
Previous appointments
Prior to joining Cambridge Judge Business School and the El-Erian Institute, Malte Dewies obtained his PhD at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Publications
Selected publications
- Dewies, M., De-Wit, L. and Reisch, L.A. (2026) “Assumptions about behaviour influence the policy preferences of public officials.” Public Management Review (DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2025.2570408) (published online Oct 2025)
- Dewies, M. and Reisch, L.A. (2026) “META BI: a tool for describing behavioural interventions.” Behavioural Public Policy (DOI: 10.1017/bpp.2025.10015) (published online Sep 2025)
- Kaiser, M., Dewies, M., Lin, D., Sunstein, C.R. and Reisch, L.A. (2026) “Socioeconomic status mostly outweighs psychological factors in predicting individual ecological footprints.” Communications Earth and Environment (DOI: 10.1038/s43247-026-03521-z) (published online Apr 2026)
- Dewies, M., Schop-Etman, A., Merkelbach, I., Rohde, K.I.M. and Denktaş, S. (2025) “Call first, pay later: stimulating debtors to contact their creditors improves debt collection in the context of financial scarcity.” Behavioural Public Policy, 9(1): 88-105 (DOI: 10.1017/bpp.2022.7)
- Dewies, M., Denktaş, S., Giel, L., Noordzij, G. and Merkelbach, I. (2022) “Applying behavioural insights to public policy: an example from Rotterdam.” Global Implementation Research and Applications, 2: 53–66 (DOI: 10.1007/s43477-022-00036-5)
- Dewies, M., Schop-Etman, A., Rohde, K.I.M. and Denktaş, S. (2022) “Nudging is ineffective when attitudes are unsupportive: an example from a natural field experiment.” Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 43(4): 213-225 (DOI: 10.1080/01973533.2021.1917412)
Journal articles
- Dewies, M., De-Wit, L. and Reisch, L.A. (2026) “Assumptions about behaviour influence the policy preferences of public officials.” Public Management Review (DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2025.2570408) (published online Oct 2025)
- Dewies, M. and Reisch, L.A. (2026) “META BI: a tool for describing behavioural interventions.” Behavioural Public Policy (DOI: 10.1017/bpp.2025.10015) (published online Sep 2025)
- Dewies, M. and Reisch, L.A. (2026) “Verhaltenspolitik 2.0: Evidenz, Infrastruktur und Governance für die nächste Generation verhaltensbasierter Politik.” Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 27(3): 343-359 (DOI: 10.1515/pwp-2026-0034)
- Kaiser, M., Dewies, M., Lin, D., Sunstein, C.R. and Reisch, L.A. (2026) “Socioeconomic status mostly outweighs psychological factors in predicting individual ecological footprints.” Communications Earth and Environment (DOI: 10.1038/s43247-026-03521-z) (published online Apr 2026)
- Tanase, L.-M., Reisch, L.A., Dewies, M. and De-Wit, L. (2026) “Perception gaps in British Parliament reveal a possible pathway to stronger climate policy action.” Communications Sustainability (forthcoming)
- Dewies, M., Schop-Etman, A., Merkelbach, I., Rohde, K.I.M. and Denktaş, S. (2025) “Call first, pay later: stimulating debtors to contact their creditors improves debt collection in the context of financial scarcity.” Behavioural Public Policy, 9(1): 88-105 (DOI: 10.1017/bpp.2022.7)
- Dewies, M., Denktaş, S., Giel, L., Noordzij, G. and Merkelbach, I. (2022) “Applying behavioural insights to public policy: an example from Rotterdam.” Global Implementation Research and Applications, 2: 53–66 (DOI: 10.1007/s43477-022-00036-5)
- Dewies, M., Merkelbach, I., van der Scheer, W.K., Rohde, K.I.M. and Denktaş, S. (2022) “Do you consider human behaviour to be stable or malleable? Your answer can influence your preferences for policy instruments.” Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, 5(1): 1-9 (DOI: 10.30636/jbpa.51.276)
- Dewies, M., Schop-Etman, A., Rohde, K.I.M. and Denktaş, S. (2022) “Nudging is ineffective when attitudes are unsupportive: an example from a natural field experiment.” Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 43(4): 213-225 (DOI: 10.1080/01973533.2021.1917412)
- Merkelbach, I., Dewies, M. and Denktaş, S. (2021) “Committing to keep clean: nudging complements standard policy measures to reduce illegal urban garbage disposal in a neighborhood with high levels of social cohesion.” Frontiers in Psychology, 12: 660410 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.660410)
News and insights
Behavioural economics
How common language on nudging can better steer behaviour
A lack of shared terminology has limited the application of behavioural interventions across disciplines. A holistic classification system developed at the El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics and Policy at Cambridge Judge Business School aims to help practitioners and academics alike.
Cambridge Judge Business School collaborated with the Tony Cowling Foundation to host an event for practitioners and academics to explore a shared interest in market research.