Should Governments Invest More in Nudging?
33 Pages Posted: 8 Jun 2017
Date Written: June 6, 2017
Abstract
Governments are increasingly adopting behavioral science techniques for changing individual behavior in pursuit of policy objectives. The types of “nudge” interventions that governments are now adopting alter people’s decisions without resorting to coercion or significant changes to economic incentives. We calculate ratios of impact to cost for nudge interventions and for traditional policy tools, such as tax incentives and other financial inducements, and we find that nudge interventions often compare favorably to traditional interventions. We conclude that nudging is a valuable approach that should be used more in conjunction with traditional policies, but more relative effectiveness calculations are needed.
Keywords: nudge, nudge unit, choice architecture, behavioral science, behavioral economics, savings, pension plan, education, college enrollment, energy, electricity usage, preventive health, influenza vaccination, flu shot
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
55 References
Milkman developed the criteria for selecting policy domains and prior studies for inclusion in the relative effectiveness analysis
J. Beshears- Milkman designed and implemented the SBST/DOD experiment
- Milkman conducted the data analysis for the SBST/DOD experiment
- Tucker provided critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission
Register to save articles to
your library
Paper statistics
SSRN Citations
Reducing Student Absenteeism in the Early Grades by Targeting Parental Beliefs
Downloads: 774Effectiveness of Repeated Implementation Intention-Interventions on Organizations’ Likelihood to File Their Overdue Taxes
Rotman School of Management Working Paper No. 2997993Downloads: 73
Crossref Citations
Default-Switching: The Hidden Cost of Defaults
SSRN Electronic Journal

- Citations
- Citation Indexes: 17
- Usage
- Abstract Views: 3224
- Downloads: 622
- Captures
- Readers: 4
- Mentions
- News Mentions: 1

- Citations
- Citation Indexes: 17
- Usage
- Abstract Views: 3224
- Downloads: 622
- Captures
- Readers: 4
- Mentions
- News Mentions: 1
