The RFBerlin Applied Economics Seminar series brings leading researchers to Berlin to share their latest work and engage with our community. We are pleased to welcome Antonio Cabrales (Charles III University of Madrid) for this session.
Antonio Cabrales is a Full Professor of Economics and Research Chair in Economics at Charles III University of Madrid. His research focuses on the economics of social networks, mechanism design, learning and evolutionary games, experimental and behavioral economics and industrial organization. He has previously held professorships and leadership roles at University College London and Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and currently serves as Executive Vice President of the European Economic Association. His work has been published in economic journals including the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Review of Economic Studies.
Event Topic:
Mental health stigma: an intervention
In this paper we study the potential of simple norm-based interventions to encourage help seeking for mental health problems. The target outcomes are health stigma and the seeking of help among young adults in Spain. The participants were assigned randomly to either a control group, an information treatment, a testimonial treatment, or a treatment combining information and testimonials. We find that testimonials from individuals with similar characteristics are the most effective intervention. Immediately after the intervention self-stigma decreases. In the following month we also find increases in contact with psychologists and primary care providers. By contrast, the effect of information alone is weak. The combined treatment does not yield clearly better outcomes than testimonials. In a heterogeneity analysis, we show the positive effects are generally larger for females. The findings suggest that narratives from socially similar people are more powerful than information on abstract norms to changing attitudes and behavior.
Event Details:
Date: 23 June 2026
Time: 14:00–15:15
Participation: the seminar is open to the public and targeted to an academic audience.
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