This book asks several critical questions relevant to those interested in public policy: What is a nudge? What are the ethical implications of and justifications for nudges? Are we able to have nudges without affecting ones freedom to choose? In what institutional context are nudges likely to work well and in what context are they likely to fail? The text explores several real-world instances of government attempts at successful choice architecture across a wide range of policy topics: internet privacy laws, environmental policy, education policy, the sharing economy, and creating a national culture.
This approach also highlights the spontaneous and evolutionary nature of social institutions like culture and trust. Attempts from policymakers to generate these social institutions where they did not exist previously are unlikely to succeed unless they are aligned with the unique characteristics of the society in question. This raises the question of whether the seemingly successful policy interventions were even necessary. A few of the chapters in this book directly examine these issues through case studies of both Latin America and Singapore.
Each chapter in this volume explores the ways in which individuals in society respond to attempts by policymakers to nudge them towards a specific outcome. Some chapters explore the theoretical arguments in favor of utilizing this behavioral policy approach. Others explore the feasibility and potential limitations of this approach to public policy. Several of the chapters apply market process theory to understand a particular case study where nudge policies have been put into practice. The chapters, authored by an interdisciplinary group of policy scholars, include discussions of internet privacy laws, the sharing economy, education policy, environmental policy, as well as social issues such as trust and culture.
Given the growing popularity of behavioral economics as a means to influence the decisions that individuals make, and the increasing use of choice architecture in public policy, this book offers a critical analysis of the feasibility and limitations of this approach to public policy.
Introduction by Rosemarie Fike, Stefanie Haeffele, and Arielle John
Chapter 1: Irrationality is not Unreasonable: Behavioral Economics,
Rationality, and Implications for Public Policy by Mario J. Rizzo
Chapter 2: What Is a Nudge? by Jeffrey Bristol
Chapter 3: Why Nudges Should Be Local and Decentralized by Katarina Hall
Chapter 4: Incentivized Migration in Colonial Contexts: The Challenge of
Asymmetric Information in Public Policy Nudges by Oliver McPherson-Smith
Chapter 5: Nudge, Nations, and Cultural Change: The Process of Identity
Formation in Singapore by Erin Dunne
Chapter 6: Nudging Lobbyists to Register with Online Registration and Grace
Periods by James M. Strickland
Chapter 7: Nudging Choices in Education Policy by Shannon Lee
Chapter 8: Public Policy, the Environment, and the Use of Green Nudges by
Cynthia Boruchowicz
Chapter 9: The Paradoxes of the Privacy Paradox by Will Rinehart
Chapter 10: Nudging, Trust, and the Sharing Economy in Latin America by
Luis H. Lozano-Paredes
Rosemarie Fike is an Instructor of Economics at Texas Christian University and a Senior Fellow of the Fraser Institute.
Stefanie Haeffele is the Deputy Director of Academic and Student Programs and a Senior Fellow for the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
Arielle John is an Associate Director of Academic and Student Programs and a Senior Fellow for the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
