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MPowerUP — Supporting Research Bibliography

This bibliography documents the peer-reviewed research, government studies, clinical trials, and program evaluations that inform MPowerUP's design — specifically the MPWR token economy and the platform's focus on populations experiencing recovery, houselessness, and criminal justice reentry.

Sources span theoretical behavioral economics through real-world intervention data collected from the 1990s through 2026.

Theoretical Research on Incentives & Prosocial Behavior

  1. Social Norms and Incentive Effects on Prosocial Behavior Source: arxiv.org https://arxiv.org/pdf/2104.13652

  2. Increasing Altruistic and Cooperative Behaviour with Simple Moral Nudges Source: arxiv.org https://arxiv.org/pdf/1711.05492

  3. Incentives and Prosocial Behavior — Bénabou & Tirole, American Economic Review Source: American Economic Association https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Faer.96.5.1652

  4. Economics of Incentivization and Social Preferences Source: Social Science Registry https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/16088

  5. Incentives and Prosocial Behavior — NBER Working Paper Source: National Bureau of Economic Research https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/11535.html

  6. Financial Incentives and Neural Computation of Prosocial Decisions Source: bioRxiv https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.23.436445.full.pdf

  7. Effect of Centralized Financial and Social Incentives on Cooperative Behavior Source: NIH/PMC https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7998905/

  8. Incentives and Prosocial Behavior — NBER Overview Source: National Bureau of Economic Research https://www.nber.org/papers/w11535

Homeless Populations & Incentive Programs

  1. $750 Monthly Payments Given to Homeless in Pilot Study Source: Good Good Good · April 2, 2026 https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/universal-basic-income-for-homeless

  2. Canada Gave Out Free Money to Help Homeless People Source: The Big Issue · September 14, 2023 https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/universal-basic-income-homeless-money-canada-study-results-analysis/

  3. Coordinating Access to Care for People Experiencing Homelessness (CATCH-FI) Source: ClinicalTrials.gov https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03770221

  4. Impact of Financial Incentives on Service Engagement Among Adults Experiencing Homelessness Source: NIH/PMC https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8369574/

  5. Using Financial Incentives to Support Service Engagement — Qualitative Analysis Source: NIH/PMC https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9122468/

  6. Voucher-Based Incentives in a Prevention Setting — Homeless Substance Users Source: ClinicalTrials.gov https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00607269

Substance Abuse & Addiction Treatment (Contingency Management)

  1. Contingency Management: Incentives for Sobriety Source: NIH/PMC https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6760431/

  2. Contingency Management for Treatment of Co-Occurring Alcohol and Drug Misuse Source: ClinicalTrials.gov https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02222389

  3. Contingency Management and Tangible Reinforcement Source: Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation · January 30, 2020 https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/articles/contingency-management

  4. Contingency Management: Using Incentives to Improve Outcomes for Adolescent Substance Use Disorders Source: NIH/PMC https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6834344/

  5. Effectiveness of Contingency Management in VA Addictions Treatment (REAP Study) Source: ClinicalTrials.gov https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00252512

  6. Rewarding Recovery: The Time is Now for Contingency Management for Opioid Use Disorder Source: NIH/PMC https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9045772/

  7. Contingency Management Part 1: Evidence-Based Approach to Positive Change Source: Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network · August 5, 2020 https://attcnetwork.org/contingency-management-part-1-an-evidenced-based-approach-to-positive-change/

Formerly Incarcerated & Criminal Justice Reentry

  1. Successful Reentry: A Community-Level Analysis Source: Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics https://iop.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/2023-02/IOP_Policy_Program_2019_Reentry_Policy.pdf

  2. Second Chance Act Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration Source: National Institute of Justice / OJP https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/251444.pdf

  3. Reentry Research at NIJ: Providing Robust Evidence for High-Stakes Decision-Making Source: National Institute of Justice https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/reentry-research-nij-providing-robust-evidence-high-stakes-decision-making

  4. Prisoner Reentry — Overview Source: Wikipedia · Updated March 31, 2026 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_reentry

  5. Five Things About Reentry Source: National Institute of Justice https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/five-things-about-reentry

  6. Why Reentry Programs are Important Source: Hope for Prisoners · January 7, 2026 https://hopeforprisoners.org/why-reentry-programs-are-important/

  7. A Better Path Forward for Criminal Justice: Prisoner Reentry Source: Brookings Institution · March 9, 2022 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/a-better-path-forward-for-criminal-justice-prisoner-reentry/

  8. Prisoner Reentry Programs: Crime and Justice Source: University of Chicago Press https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/681554

  9. 6 Reentry Programs Making a Difference by Supporting Successful Transition Source: Stand Together · January 28, 2026 https://standtogether.org/stories/strong-safe-communities/reentry-programs-that-support-a-successful-transition

  10. The Promise of Prisoner Reentry Programming Source: Institute for Child and Family Well-Being, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee · September 10, 2019 https://uwm.edu/icfw/the-promise-of-prisoner-reentry-programming/

Sources include peer-reviewed research, government studies (NIJ, OJP), clinical trial registries (ClinicalTrials.gov), nonprofit reports, and academic institutions. Material spans the 1990s through 2026.