{"id":1112,"slug":"mullainathan-shafir-2013-scarcity-bandwidth-tax","title":"Mullainathan & Shafir 2013 (Scarcity) — tunneling + bandwidth tax; scarcity consumes cognitive resources for executive function","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["psychology-aversion","behavioral-economics"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** Mullainathan and Shafir's 2013 *Scarcity*, drawing on field and laboratory experiments, establishes two operative claims:\n\n- **Tunneling.** Scarcity focuses cognition narrowly on the scarce resource — a \"focus dividend\" in the short run, with neglect of peripheral concerns and longer-term consequences.\n- **Bandwidth tax.** Scarcity consumes the cognitive resources otherwise available to executive function, working memory, and impulse control.\n\n**Source:** Mullainathan, S., & Shafir, E. (2013). *Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much*. Times Books.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified for general population; directional for GC owners (no published bandwidth-tax study specifically on construction owner-operators).\n\n**For Candid:** For a GC two weeks out from a payroll run, with a slow-paying owner and a sub demanding payment, the bandwidth available to evaluate a strategic 12-month marketing engagement is **empirically depleted**. This is not a defect of the buyer; it is the predictable cognitive state of someone managing acute resource scarcity.\n\nOperational consequences:\n- Long, complex proposals fail. Short, scannable ones land. (Not a stylistic preference — a literal bandwidth constraint.)\n- Cold outreach during cash-tight cycle weeks gets disproportionate \"no thanks\" responses that have nothing to do with the pitch quality.\n- Payment terms aligned with the GC's own draw cycle ([[rule-payment-terms-aligned-with-gc-draw-cycle]]) reduce scarcity-cognitive friction without changing total revenue.\n\n**Empirical anchor:** [[mani-et-al-2013-sugarcane-farmers-cognitive-test]].","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"research-brief-risk-aversion-post-failure-may-2026","title":"Research brief: risk aversion, loss aversion, and post-failure decision patterns in GC and trades-business decision-makers (May 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"mani-et-al-2013-sugarcane-farmers-cognitive-test","title":"Mani, Mullainathan, Shafir, Zhao 2013 (Science) — Indian sugarcane farmers; fluid intelligence + executive control measurably higher AFTER harvest payment than before","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"cialdini-six-principles-audited-for-gc-buyer","title":"Cialdini six principles, audited for the loss-averse trades buyer — reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking work; scarcity backfires","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"rule-payment-terms-aligned-with-gc-draw-cycle","title":"R8 — Payment terms aligned with the GC's draw cycle; progress-based or milestone-tied, not monthly; reduces scarcity-cognitive friction","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-25T13:13:31.045Z","updated_at":"2026-05-25T13:13:31.045Z"}