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“To Nudge or Not to Nudge†: Public Policies and People’s Resistance to Change

Author

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  • Aurora Murgea

    (West University of Timișoara, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Romania)

Abstract

Almost two centuries distance from John Stuart Mill and Adam Smith’s works, the Homo economicus concept seems to have fewer and fewer supporters. Designing economic policies based on the idea of an entirely rational individual who has access to all the relevant information and takes decisions strictly following his interest is no more realistic. Several politicians, such as Barack Obama and David Cameron, have used behavioural insides to draw public policies. In this context, this paper has as a main objective to realise a SWOT analysis of nudge-based policies, also trying to answer the next questions: Are they effective? Are they ethical? Are there any limitations in applying nudging in public policies to overcome the main downsides?

Suggested Citation

  • Aurora Murgea, 2022. "“To Nudge or Not to Nudge†: Public Policies and People’s Resistance to Change," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 395-403, Decembrie.
  • Handle: RePEc:ovi:oviste:v:xxii:y:2022:i:2:p:395-403
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    File URL: https://stec.univ-ovidius.ro/html/anale/RO/2022-issue2/Section%203/25.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Samuelson, William & Zeckhauser, Richard, 1988. "Status Quo Bias in Decision Making," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 7-59, March.
    2. Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman, 1991. "Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1039-1061.
    3. Dyson, Robert G., 2004. "Strategic development and SWOT analysis at the University of Warwick," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(3), pages 631-640, February.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    behaviour; change; nudge; public policies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • E71 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on the Macro Economy
    • G40 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - General
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General

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