Toni Mora, dean of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences at UIC Barcelona and director of the Research Institute for Evaluation and Public Policies (IRAPP), has received the award from the Spanish Health Economics Association (AES) for the best scientific article on health economics published in 2025. The award was presented on 19 June as part of the 45th Health Economics Conference, in which Dr Mora shared the key findings from the prize-winning research.

The award-winning article, entitled A randomised control trial on the impact of nudges, information and incentives on food choices of vulnerable families, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, was co-authored by E. Fichera, B. G. López-Valcárcel, B. Raidó-Quintana and P. Rey-Biel.

The study uses a randomised controlled trial to explore how different strategies – information on healthy eating, nudges (subtle interventions designed to encourage certain choices) and financial incentives – influence the food purchasing decisions of vulnerable families receiving aid from the Red Cross.

The research was conducted with 1,429 participants from 73 Red Cross branches across Catalonia, all of whom were enrolled in a food assistance programme that provided food vouchers. The findings show that all three interventions helped improve the nutritional quality of the participants’ food purchases. Nonetheless, information-based actions and nudges had a greater impact than financial incentives in encouraging healthier food choices.

More specifically, these interventions prompted significant improvements in both the quality and nutritional value of the purchases, highlighting the potential of public policies based on behavioural economics to promote healthier habits among vulnerable populations.

This distinction from the Spanish Health Economics Association recognises the scientific contribution of Dr Toni Mora and his team to the field of health economics, as well as the social impact of research that provides evidence to support the design of more effective public policies. The award, funded by Lilly Spain, carries a cash prize of €3,000.