Andrew Dobson
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265536
- eISBN:
- 9780191760327
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265536.003.0026
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Governments are failing to govern. They are hollowing out both the safety nets of social support and of ethical norms. The market is guided by financial incentive and short-term profit-making, by ...
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Governments are failing to govern. They are hollowing out both the safety nets of social support and of ethical norms. The market is guided by financial incentive and short-term profit-making, by nudge and uncontrolled externalities, where sustainability citizenship cannot gain a toehold. There is a gap between responsive and responsible government. There is too little space for genuine civic engagement and for effective localism. This is the tipping point that has to be engineered by communities working for their collective betterment.Less
Governments are failing to govern. They are hollowing out both the safety nets of social support and of ethical norms. The market is guided by financial incentive and short-term profit-making, by nudge and uncontrolled externalities, where sustainability citizenship cannot gain a toehold. There is a gap between responsive and responsible government. There is too little space for genuine civic engagement and for effective localism. This is the tipping point that has to be engineered by communities working for their collective betterment.
Julian Le Grand and Bill New
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164373
- eISBN:
- 9781400866298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164373.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter examines the so-called nudge ideas based on libertarian paternalism and asymmetric paternalism, both of which seek to provide a practical approach to the trade-off between well-being and ...
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This chapter examines the so-called nudge ideas based on libertarian paternalism and asymmetric paternalism, both of which seek to provide a practical approach to the trade-off between well-being and autonomy. Nudge policies are government interventions that seek to change the context in which people make choices—the “choice architecture”—so as to nudge them to make decisions in the direction that the government wants. “Libertarian” paternalism is paternalism because the policies involve government intervention in individual decision making with the intention of promoting the individual's own good, but libertarian because the individual maintains a range of choices similar to those that he/she had without the intervention. After considering the relevant definitions, the chapter considers the case for and against libertarian paternalism and concludes by highlighting the principal defense of libertarian paternalist policies: their effectiveness in terms of their impact on well-being and autonomy when compared to alternative paternalistic policies.Less
This chapter examines the so-called nudge ideas based on libertarian paternalism and asymmetric paternalism, both of which seek to provide a practical approach to the trade-off between well-being and autonomy. Nudge policies are government interventions that seek to change the context in which people make choices—the “choice architecture”—so as to nudge them to make decisions in the direction that the government wants. “Libertarian” paternalism is paternalism because the policies involve government intervention in individual decision making with the intention of promoting the individual's own good, but libertarian because the individual maintains a range of choices similar to those that he/she had without the intervention. After considering the relevant definitions, the chapter considers the case for and against libertarian paternalism and concludes by highlighting the principal defense of libertarian paternalist policies: their effectiveness in terms of their impact on well-being and autonomy when compared to alternative paternalistic policies.
Gillian Barker
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231171885
- eISBN:
- 9780231540391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231171885.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
Human behavior and development if actively responsive to certain kinds of environmental features, and this suggests that some kinds of substantial social change could be feasible given the right kind ...
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Human behavior and development if actively responsive to certain kinds of environmental features, and this suggests that some kinds of substantial social change could be feasible given the right kind of triggering change or "nudge." Recent work in social psychology offers results that support this view, and that indicate what some key triggers might be--work on stereotypes and stereotype threat, responses to social inequality, implicit bias, and learning mindsets are especially promising.Less
Human behavior and development if actively responsive to certain kinds of environmental features, and this suggests that some kinds of substantial social change could be feasible given the right kind of triggering change or "nudge." Recent work in social psychology offers results that support this view, and that indicate what some key triggers might be--work on stereotypes and stereotype threat, responses to social inequality, implicit bias, and learning mindsets are especially promising.
Christian Coons and Michael Weber (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199338207
- eISBN:
- 9780190228446
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199338207.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy
As social creatures, we influence one another in a variety of ways. Much of this influence is benign—for example, advising family and friends, serving as role models for our children and students. ...
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As social creatures, we influence one another in a variety of ways. Much of this influence is benign—for example, advising family and friends, serving as role models for our children and students. Some forms of influence, however, are clearly morally suspect, such as violence, threats of violence, and blackmail. A great deal of attention has been paid to one form of morally suspect influence, namely coercion. Less attention has been paid to what might be a more pervasive form of influence: manipulation. The chapters in this volume address this relative imbalance by focusing on manipulation, examining its nature, moral status, and significance in personal and social life. A number of central questions are addressed: What counts as manipulation? How is it distinguished from coercion and ordinary rational persuasion? Is it always wrong, or can it sometimes be justified—and if so, when? Can one manipulate unintentionally? How does being manipulated to do something bear on one’s moral responsibly for doing it? Given various answers to these questions, what should we think of institutions and practices such as advertising, dating, and seduction? Should policymakers—similar to Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s suggestion in their influential bestseller Nudge—regard broadly manipulative measures as a welcome alternative to coercion?Less
As social creatures, we influence one another in a variety of ways. Much of this influence is benign—for example, advising family and friends, serving as role models for our children and students. Some forms of influence, however, are clearly morally suspect, such as violence, threats of violence, and blackmail. A great deal of attention has been paid to one form of morally suspect influence, namely coercion. Less attention has been paid to what might be a more pervasive form of influence: manipulation. The chapters in this volume address this relative imbalance by focusing on manipulation, examining its nature, moral status, and significance in personal and social life. A number of central questions are addressed: What counts as manipulation? How is it distinguished from coercion and ordinary rational persuasion? Is it always wrong, or can it sometimes be justified—and if so, when? Can one manipulate unintentionally? How does being manipulated to do something bear on one’s moral responsibly for doing it? Given various answers to these questions, what should we think of institutions and practices such as advertising, dating, and seduction? Should policymakers—similar to Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s suggestion in their influential bestseller Nudge—regard broadly manipulative measures as a welcome alternative to coercion?
Jan Abel Olsen
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198794837
- eISBN:
- 9780191836329
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794837.003.0008
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter examines three health determinants that lie inside of individuals’ own control: diet, physical activity, and substance use. The choices exhibited over these three classes of goods (or ...
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This chapter examines three health determinants that lie inside of individuals’ own control: diet, physical activity, and substance use. The choices exhibited over these three classes of goods (or bads) have fundamental impacts on the health of the individual. Under each of them, three types of policy interventions are discussed: prices, regulations, and ‘nudges’. Generally, price interventions such as indirect taxation and subsidies are useful when demand is responsive to price changes, that is, on price-elastic goods. Regulations are required when consumers do not respond much to price changes, that is, for price-inelastic goods. The use of ‘nudges’ is based on the insight from behavioural economics that consumers are sensitive to how their choice sets are being presented. Through ‘choice architecture’ policymakers can help individuals make healthy choices rather than being victims of a short-sighted weak will.Less
This chapter examines three health determinants that lie inside of individuals’ own control: diet, physical activity, and substance use. The choices exhibited over these three classes of goods (or bads) have fundamental impacts on the health of the individual. Under each of them, three types of policy interventions are discussed: prices, regulations, and ‘nudges’. Generally, price interventions such as indirect taxation and subsidies are useful when demand is responsive to price changes, that is, on price-elastic goods. Regulations are required when consumers do not respond much to price changes, that is, for price-inelastic goods. The use of ‘nudges’ is based on the insight from behavioural economics that consumers are sensitive to how their choice sets are being presented. Through ‘choice architecture’ policymakers can help individuals make healthy choices rather than being victims of a short-sighted weak will.
Thomas Douglas
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198758617
- eISBN:
- 9780191818530
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198758617.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Interventions that modify a person’s motivations through chemically or physically influencing the brain seem morally objectionable, at least when they are performed nonconsensually. This chapter ...
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Interventions that modify a person’s motivations through chemically or physically influencing the brain seem morally objectionable, at least when they are performed nonconsensually. This chapter raises a puzzle for attempts to explain their objectionability. It first seeks to show that the objectionability of such interventions must be explained at least in part by reference to the sort of mental interference that they involve. It then argues that it is difficult to furnish an explanation of this sort. The difficulty is that these interventions seem no more objectionable, in terms of the kind of mental interference that they involve, than certain forms of environmental influence that many would regard as morally innocuous. The argument proceeds by comparing a particular neurointervention with a comparable environmental intervention. The author argues, first, that the two dominant explanations for the objectionability of the neurointervention apply equally to the environmental intervention, and second, that the descriptive difference between the environmental intervention and the neurointervention that most plausibly grounds the putative moral difference in fact fails to do so. The author concludes by presenting a trilemma that falls out of the argument.Less
Interventions that modify a person’s motivations through chemically or physically influencing the brain seem morally objectionable, at least when they are performed nonconsensually. This chapter raises a puzzle for attempts to explain their objectionability. It first seeks to show that the objectionability of such interventions must be explained at least in part by reference to the sort of mental interference that they involve. It then argues that it is difficult to furnish an explanation of this sort. The difficulty is that these interventions seem no more objectionable, in terms of the kind of mental interference that they involve, than certain forms of environmental influence that many would regard as morally innocuous. The argument proceeds by comparing a particular neurointervention with a comparable environmental intervention. The author argues, first, that the two dominant explanations for the objectionability of the neurointervention apply equally to the environmental intervention, and second, that the descriptive difference between the environmental intervention and the neurointervention that most plausibly grounds the putative moral difference in fact fails to do so. The author concludes by presenting a trilemma that falls out of the argument.
Peter John
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781447319467
- eISBN:
- 9781447319474
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447319467.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
The toolbox of governments increasingly resembles a set of informational cues and prompts. Governments and other public sector organisations realise that the traditional tools of government, such as ...
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The toolbox of governments increasingly resembles a set of informational cues and prompts. Governments and other public sector organisations realise that the traditional tools of government, such as law and finance, need a supportive informational context to be effective. Recent developments in British government show that the distinction between nudge-like interventions and the traditional policy instruments cannot be sustained. These informational resources have increased the capacity of government and they can help alleviate the problems of top-down forms of intervention. In short, an informational focus to the tools of government can enhance more traditional forms of intervention.Less
The toolbox of governments increasingly resembles a set of informational cues and prompts. Governments and other public sector organisations realise that the traditional tools of government, such as law and finance, need a supportive informational context to be effective. Recent developments in British government show that the distinction between nudge-like interventions and the traditional policy instruments cannot be sustained. These informational resources have increased the capacity of government and they can help alleviate the problems of top-down forms of intervention. In short, an informational focus to the tools of government can enhance more traditional forms of intervention.
Martin Innes
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199684465
- eISBN:
- 9780191788093
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199684465.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
A control signal is an act of social control conveying a message to a wider social audience. Starting with a story about the execution of a group of smugglers in the eighteenth century, that fades ...
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A control signal is an act of social control conveying a message to a wider social audience. Starting with a story about the execution of a group of smugglers in the eighteenth century, that fades into an extensive discussion of the performative acts of policing, a number of types of control signal are mapped out. It is shown that control signals can be deliberately manufactured or emerge more organically out of social control acts and interventions. Furthermore a differentiation can be made between positive and negative signal effects. In the second half of the chapter the focus is upon how accenting the communicative properties and qualities of control acts has repercussions for our understandings of social control processes more broadly. A distinction between ‘signals of control’ and ‘signals to control’ is identified.Less
A control signal is an act of social control conveying a message to a wider social audience. Starting with a story about the execution of a group of smugglers in the eighteenth century, that fades into an extensive discussion of the performative acts of policing, a number of types of control signal are mapped out. It is shown that control signals can be deliberately manufactured or emerge more organically out of social control acts and interventions. Furthermore a differentiation can be made between positive and negative signal effects. In the second half of the chapter the focus is upon how accenting the communicative properties and qualities of control acts has repercussions for our understandings of social control processes more broadly. A distinction between ‘signals of control’ and ‘signals to control’ is identified.
Robin Hambleton
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781447304975
- eISBN:
- 9781447311843
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447304975.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter shows how place-based initiative was often the driving force behind the creation of new public services – from public parks, libraries, and museums, to social care, education and social ...
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This chapter shows how place-based initiative was often the driving force behind the creation of new public services – from public parks, libraries, and museums, to social care, education and social housing. The chapter examines the changing nature of public service reform in the last thirty years or so, and distinguishes three broad approaches: 1) Consumerism (relying on market or quasi-market models and the power of ‘exit’), 2) Customer orientation (relying on self-improvement by public servants), and 3) Citizen empowerment (relying on strengthening the role of citizens in the co-creation of public services and the power of ‘voice’). The discussion offers a robust critique of ‘New Public Management’ and the notion of ‘Nudge in public policy’. In place of these flawed models the chapter suggests a democratic way forward for public service reform described as ‘New Civic Leadership’. This approach envisages a creative interplay between civil society, markets and the state.Less
This chapter shows how place-based initiative was often the driving force behind the creation of new public services – from public parks, libraries, and museums, to social care, education and social housing. The chapter examines the changing nature of public service reform in the last thirty years or so, and distinguishes three broad approaches: 1) Consumerism (relying on market or quasi-market models and the power of ‘exit’), 2) Customer orientation (relying on self-improvement by public servants), and 3) Citizen empowerment (relying on strengthening the role of citizens in the co-creation of public services and the power of ‘voice’). The discussion offers a robust critique of ‘New Public Management’ and the notion of ‘Nudge in public policy’. In place of these flawed models the chapter suggests a democratic way forward for public service reform described as ‘New Civic Leadership’. This approach envisages a creative interplay between civil society, markets and the state.
Peter Triantafillou and Naja Vucina
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781526100528
- eISBN:
- 9781526138972
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526100528.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter analyses predominant forms of political rationalities, expert knowledge, and governing technologies employed in the attempt to govern obesity in England. First, we look into some of the ...
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This chapter analyses predominant forms of political rationalities, expert knowledge, and governing technologies employed in the attempt to govern obesity in England. First, we look into some of the historical antecedents to contemporary health promotion by briefly accounting for the preventive measures addressing obesity in the early twentieth century. We then turn to the re-casting of obesity as a question of lifestyle conduct during the 1980s. This is followed by an examination of the mobilisation of the community by the recent British governments and the attempt to apply behavioural knowledge and techniques (nudging) to governing obesity. Finally, we zoom in on the governing of child obesity and the role that the so-called fat camps play in obesity management.Less
This chapter analyses predominant forms of political rationalities, expert knowledge, and governing technologies employed in the attempt to govern obesity in England. First, we look into some of the historical antecedents to contemporary health promotion by briefly accounting for the preventive measures addressing obesity in the early twentieth century. We then turn to the re-casting of obesity as a question of lifestyle conduct during the 1980s. This is followed by an examination of the mobilisation of the community by the recent British governments and the attempt to apply behavioural knowledge and techniques (nudging) to governing obesity. Finally, we zoom in on the governing of child obesity and the role that the so-called fat camps play in obesity management.
Alistair Ulph and Dale Southerton (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199679355
- eISBN:
- 9780191758423
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679355.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This book aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of sustainable consumption by drawing together insights from these diverse disciplines. The book was developed from presentations at a ...
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This book aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of sustainable consumption by drawing together insights from these diverse disciplines. The book was developed from presentations at a conference held in honour of the distinguished economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta. Contributors were asked to situate their recent research on aspects of sustainable consumption in the broader context of how their disciplines tackle the subject of consumption and how disciplinary perspectives on consumption relate to one another. Chapters cover diverse topics, including: why the conventional economic models are inadequate for addressing sustainable consumption; the economics of happiness; the politics of ‘nudge’; the neuroscience of consumption; and social science approaches to sustainable consumption. The book’s extended introduction sketches the conventional economic model of consumption and explores how the chapters extend or challenge this understanding.Less
This book aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of sustainable consumption by drawing together insights from these diverse disciplines. The book was developed from presentations at a conference held in honour of the distinguished economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta. Contributors were asked to situate their recent research on aspects of sustainable consumption in the broader context of how their disciplines tackle the subject of consumption and how disciplinary perspectives on consumption relate to one another. Chapters cover diverse topics, including: why the conventional economic models are inadequate for addressing sustainable consumption; the economics of happiness; the politics of ‘nudge’; the neuroscience of consumption; and social science approaches to sustainable consumption. The book’s extended introduction sketches the conventional economic model of consumption and explores how the chapters extend or challenge this understanding.
Gerry Stoker
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199679355
- eISBN:
- 9780191758423
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679355.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
New insights from psychology and behavioural economics have encouraged a paradigm shift in policy debates towards a focus on ‘nudge’ strategies that are influenced by an understanding of the ...
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New insights from psychology and behavioural economics have encouraged a paradigm shift in policy debates towards a focus on ‘nudge’ strategies that are influenced by an understanding of the cognitive and social factors driving human decision-making. However, translating behavioural insights into viable policy interventions is far from straightforward. Moreover, nudge strategies are normatively contested and far from certain to deliver behaviour change on their own. Sustainable consumption strategies pursued using nudge are more likely to be effective if: firstly, they were freed from their current neo-liberal framing, if normative doubts about their manipulative nature were addressed, and nudge strategies were seen to complement, rather than replace, traditional mechanisms of government intervention; and secondly, if the range of delivery partners, supporters, and backers were extended, lessening the threat to legitimacy created by ‘top-down’ approaches.Less
New insights from psychology and behavioural economics have encouraged a paradigm shift in policy debates towards a focus on ‘nudge’ strategies that are influenced by an understanding of the cognitive and social factors driving human decision-making. However, translating behavioural insights into viable policy interventions is far from straightforward. Moreover, nudge strategies are normatively contested and far from certain to deliver behaviour change on their own. Sustainable consumption strategies pursued using nudge are more likely to be effective if: firstly, they were freed from their current neo-liberal framing, if normative doubts about their manipulative nature were addressed, and nudge strategies were seen to complement, rather than replace, traditional mechanisms of government intervention; and secondly, if the range of delivery partners, supporters, and backers were extended, lessening the threat to legitimacy created by ‘top-down’ approaches.
J.S. Blumenthal-Barby
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199338207
- eISBN:
- 9780190228446
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199338207.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter addresses the question of the wrong-making features of manipulation and the circumstances under which it is ethically justified. It argues that it is not the case that any of the ...
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This chapter addresses the question of the wrong-making features of manipulation and the circumstances under which it is ethically justified. It argues that it is not the case that any of the practices traditionally labeled as “manipulation” are ipso facto morally wrong, nor is it even the case that any of these practices have a single wrong-making feature (e.g., infringement on autonomy that is always present but may be outweighed by other morally relevant factors). The moral status depends on the extent to which an instance of influence (1) threatens or promotes autonomy, (2) has good aims and virtuous overtones or bad ones, and (3) fulfills or fails to fulfill duties, obligations, and expectations that arise out of the relationship between the influencer and influenced. The chapter analyzes these domains in depth and discusses the challenges arising from the application of a pluralistic framework such as this.Less
This chapter addresses the question of the wrong-making features of manipulation and the circumstances under which it is ethically justified. It argues that it is not the case that any of the practices traditionally labeled as “manipulation” are ipso facto morally wrong, nor is it even the case that any of these practices have a single wrong-making feature (e.g., infringement on autonomy that is always present but may be outweighed by other morally relevant factors). The moral status depends on the extent to which an instance of influence (1) threatens or promotes autonomy, (2) has good aims and virtuous overtones or bad ones, and (3) fulfills or fails to fulfill duties, obligations, and expectations that arise out of the relationship between the influencer and influenced. The chapter analyzes these domains in depth and discusses the challenges arising from the application of a pluralistic framework such as this.
Rabih Abouchakra, Mona Hammami, and Jim Hagemann Snabe
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198825067
- eISBN:
- 9780191863745
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198825067.003.0016
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Corporate Governance and Accountability, Political Economy
Governments can contribute more effectively and efficiently to societal progress. The traditional government machinery is however inadequate, underfunded and wrongly funded, and still overly focused ...
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Governments can contribute more effectively and efficiently to societal progress. The traditional government machinery is however inadequate, underfunded and wrongly funded, and still overly focused on economic output rather than societal outcomes. New approaches need to deal better with multidimensional problems, some massive (such as migration), and better integrate behavioral insights and big data. This chapter highlights: (1) outcome-conditional taxes and transfers (such as a sugar tax aimed at obesity, and cash for school attendance family transfers); (2) corrective rather than just preventive regulation (as exemplified by Germany’s paternal leave policy which aims to correct demographic decline); (3) nudge policies (such as opt-out rather than opt-in voluntary pension savings); (4) innovative financing (such as government matching of foreign remittance by expats to finance infrastructure in Mexico); and (5) greater use of big data to compare interventions and outcomes (as attempted by the US Department of Education).Less
Governments can contribute more effectively and efficiently to societal progress. The traditional government machinery is however inadequate, underfunded and wrongly funded, and still overly focused on economic output rather than societal outcomes. New approaches need to deal better with multidimensional problems, some massive (such as migration), and better integrate behavioral insights and big data. This chapter highlights: (1) outcome-conditional taxes and transfers (such as a sugar tax aimed at obesity, and cash for school attendance family transfers); (2) corrective rather than just preventive regulation (as exemplified by Germany’s paternal leave policy which aims to correct demographic decline); (3) nudge policies (such as opt-out rather than opt-in voluntary pension savings); (4) innovative financing (such as government matching of foreign remittance by expats to finance infrastructure in Mexico); and (5) greater use of big data to compare interventions and outcomes (as attempted by the US Department of Education).
George C. Davis and Elena L. Serrano
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199379118
- eISBN:
- 9780190876609
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199379118.003.0009
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
Chapter 9 gives an overview of behavioral economics, the set of environmental and psychological factors that influence food and nutrition choices, beyond the neoclassical economics resource ...
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Chapter 9 gives an overview of behavioral economics, the set of environmental and psychological factors that influence food and nutrition choices, beyond the neoclassical economics resource constraint focus. The non-resource based factors can range from an enticing smell, relaxing music, and different plate sizes to a change in how nutrient information is presented, to name a few. In economics, these factors are studied in the subfield of behavioral economics. The chapter defines behavioral economic effects and outline the eight, key major behavioral economics effects that would seem especially relevant for food and nutrition choices. Throughout, it presents some of the main empirical findings on these behavioral economics effects.Less
Chapter 9 gives an overview of behavioral economics, the set of environmental and psychological factors that influence food and nutrition choices, beyond the neoclassical economics resource constraint focus. The non-resource based factors can range from an enticing smell, relaxing music, and different plate sizes to a change in how nutrient information is presented, to name a few. In economics, these factors are studied in the subfield of behavioral economics. The chapter defines behavioral economic effects and outline the eight, key major behavioral economics effects that would seem especially relevant for food and nutrition choices. Throughout, it presents some of the main empirical findings on these behavioral economics effects.
Kerrie L. Unsworth
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- June 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199997480
- eISBN:
- 9780190272364
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199997480.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
Much research has looked at interventions designed to increase pro-environmental behavior. This chapter uses goal theories to understand why and how these interventions work and to provide an ...
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Much research has looked at interventions designed to increase pro-environmental behavior. This chapter uses goal theories to understand why and how these interventions work and to provide an overarching theoretical framework for psychological influence techniques. Interventions can be seen as affecting goal attractiveness, goal efficacy, goal choice, goal commitment or self-regulation towards the goal. Interventions can also be differentiated in terms of their method—using conscious or non-conscious mechanisms—and the focus of the goal itself—pro-environmental or other non-environmental goals. This framework enables the integration of existing work as well as highlighting new interventions to increase employee environmental behavior.Less
Much research has looked at interventions designed to increase pro-environmental behavior. This chapter uses goal theories to understand why and how these interventions work and to provide an overarching theoretical framework for psychological influence techniques. Interventions can be seen as affecting goal attractiveness, goal efficacy, goal choice, goal commitment or self-regulation towards the goal. Interventions can also be differentiated in terms of their method—using conscious or non-conscious mechanisms—and the focus of the goal itself—pro-environmental or other non-environmental goals. This framework enables the integration of existing work as well as highlighting new interventions to increase employee environmental behavior.
Robert Sugden
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- July 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198825142
- eISBN:
- 9780191863813
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198825142.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
Chapter 3 proposes a contractarian approach to normative economics. Instead of taking a view from nowhere, a contractarian analyst addresses citizens as individuals, advising them how to reach ...
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Chapter 3 proposes a contractarian approach to normative economics. Instead of taking a view from nowhere, a contractarian analyst addresses citizens as individuals, advising them how to reach mutually beneficial agreements. I identify early contractarian arguments in Hobbes’s Leviathan and Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature. I argue that contractarianism is appropriate if politics is understood as primarily about negotiation, rather than executive action or debate. I discuss the ‘libertarian paternalist’ (or ‘nudging’) approach to policy-making recommended by many behavioural economists. Although paternalistic recommendations can legitimately be addressed to social planners or to assemblies of public reasoners, they are out of bounds to contractarian reasoning. A contractarian has to show that her recommendations are in the separate interests of each individual, as that individual perceives those interests.Less
Chapter 3 proposes a contractarian approach to normative economics. Instead of taking a view from nowhere, a contractarian analyst addresses citizens as individuals, advising them how to reach mutually beneficial agreements. I identify early contractarian arguments in Hobbes’s Leviathan and Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature. I argue that contractarianism is appropriate if politics is understood as primarily about negotiation, rather than executive action or debate. I discuss the ‘libertarian paternalist’ (or ‘nudging’) approach to policy-making recommended by many behavioural economists. Although paternalistic recommendations can legitimately be addressed to social planners or to assemblies of public reasoners, they are out of bounds to contractarian reasoning. A contractarian has to show that her recommendations are in the separate interests of each individual, as that individual perceives those interests.
Robert Sugden
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- July 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198825142
- eISBN:
- 9780191863813
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198825142.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
Chapter 4 reviews ‘behavioural welfare economics’—the approach to normative analysis that is favoured by most behavioural economists. This approach assumes that people have context-independent ‘true’ ...
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Chapter 4 reviews ‘behavioural welfare economics’—the approach to normative analysis that is favoured by most behavioural economists. This approach assumes that people have context-independent ‘true’ or ‘latent’ preferences which, because of psychologically-induced errors, are not always revealed in actual choices. Behavioural welfare economics aims to reconstruct latent preferences by identifying and removing the effects of error on decisions, and to design policies to satisfy those preferences. Its implicit model of human agency is of an ‘inner rational agent’ that interacts with the world through an imperfect psychological ‘shell’. I argue that there is no satisfactory evidence to support this model, and no credible psychological foundation for it. Since the concept of true preference has no empirical content, the idea that such preferences can be reconstructed is a mirage. Normative economics needs to be more radical in giving up rationality assumptions.Less
Chapter 4 reviews ‘behavioural welfare economics’—the approach to normative analysis that is favoured by most behavioural economists. This approach assumes that people have context-independent ‘true’ or ‘latent’ preferences which, because of psychologically-induced errors, are not always revealed in actual choices. Behavioural welfare economics aims to reconstruct latent preferences by identifying and removing the effects of error on decisions, and to design policies to satisfy those preferences. Its implicit model of human agency is of an ‘inner rational agent’ that interacts with the world through an imperfect psychological ‘shell’. I argue that there is no satisfactory evidence to support this model, and no credible psychological foundation for it. Since the concept of true preference has no empirical content, the idea that such preferences can be reconstructed is a mirage. Normative economics needs to be more radical in giving up rationality assumptions.
George C. Davis and Elena L. Serrano
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199379118
- eISBN:
- 9780190876609
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199379118.003.0010
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
Chapter 10 places both the neoclassical and behavioral economic approaches under the broader unifying framework of neuroeconomics. The chapter uses insights from the neuroscience and neuroeconomics ...
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Chapter 10 places both the neoclassical and behavioral economic approaches under the broader unifying framework of neuroeconomics. The chapter uses insights from the neuroscience and neuroeconomics literature to consider food and nutrition choices within a dual systems dual objectives framework with limited cognitive resources. This framework allows us to reinterpret and re-evaluate various factors already discussed in the book, ranging from income, to prices, to information campaigns, to behavioral effects. This broader framework sheds new light on why some factors may seem more important than others. This leads naturally to a discussion of the types of nutrition interventions that are most likely to be most effective as well.Less
Chapter 10 places both the neoclassical and behavioral economic approaches under the broader unifying framework of neuroeconomics. The chapter uses insights from the neuroscience and neuroeconomics literature to consider food and nutrition choices within a dual systems dual objectives framework with limited cognitive resources. This framework allows us to reinterpret and re-evaluate various factors already discussed in the book, ranging from income, to prices, to information campaigns, to behavioral effects. This broader framework sheds new light on why some factors may seem more important than others. This leads naturally to a discussion of the types of nutrition interventions that are most likely to be most effective as well.
Saadi Lahlou
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190457204
- eISBN:
- 9780190457235
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190457204.003.0023
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
Societies nudge and frame activity by constructing “installations” in which subjects operate. Installations suggest, scaffold, and constrain what society members can/should do in a specific ...
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Societies nudge and frame activity by constructing “installations” in which subjects operate. Installations suggest, scaffold, and constrain what society members can/should do in a specific situation, at three levels: affordances in the environment, embodied interpretation systems in humans, and social influence—direct or through institutions. Subjects are driven by their own motives and intentions, but installations have a momentum of their own. Agency, as access to resources and liability to constraints in the perspective of reaching one’s goal and satisfying one’s motives, must, in societies, be considered in the light of one’s relation to installations. This leads us to consider three types of agency: material agency (access to material affordances), embodied agency (competences of the subject: representations, skills), social agency (entitlement to social support and liability to control). Robust agency should combine these three types.Less
Societies nudge and frame activity by constructing “installations” in which subjects operate. Installations suggest, scaffold, and constrain what society members can/should do in a specific situation, at three levels: affordances in the environment, embodied interpretation systems in humans, and social influence—direct or through institutions. Subjects are driven by their own motives and intentions, but installations have a momentum of their own. Agency, as access to resources and liability to constraints in the perspective of reaching one’s goal and satisfying one’s motives, must, in societies, be considered in the light of one’s relation to installations. This leads us to consider three types of agency: material agency (access to material affordances), embodied agency (competences of the subject: representations, skills), social agency (entitlement to social support and liability to control). Robust agency should combine these three types.
