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Optimal defaults with normative ambiguity

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  • Goldin, Jacob
  • Reck, Daniel

Abstract

Default effects are pervasive, but the reason they arise is often unclear. We study optimal policy when the planner does not know whether an observed default effect reflects a welfare-relevant preference or a mistake. Within a broad class of models, we find that determining optimal policy is impossible without resolving this ambiguity. Depending on the resolution, optimal policy tends in opposite directions: either minimizing the number of non-default choices or inducing active choice. We show how these considerations depend on whether active choosers make mistakes when selecting among non-default options. We illustrate our results using data on pension contribution defaults.

Suggested Citation

  • Goldin, Jacob & Reck, Daniel, 2020. "Optimal defaults with normative ambiguity," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 105863, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:105863
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/105863/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jason Abaluck & Abi Adams, 2017. "What do consumers consider before they choose? Identification from asymmetric demand responses," IFS Working Papers W17/09, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    2. Jason Abaluck & Abi Adams, 2017. "What Do Consumers Consider Before They Choose? Identification from Asymmetric Demand Responses," NBER Working Papers 23566, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Joshua Blumenstock & Michael Callen & Tarek Ghani, 2018. "Why Do Defaults Affect Behavior? Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(10), pages 2868-2901, October.
    4. Raj Chetty, 2012. "Bounds on Elasticities With Optimization Frictions: A Synthesis of Micro and Macro Evidence on Labor Supply," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(3), pages 969-1018, May.
    5. Benjamin Handel & Joshua Schwartzstein, 2018. "Frictions or Mental Gaps: What's Behind the Information We (Don't) Use and When Do We Care?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(1), pages 155-178, Winter.
    6. Jacob Goldin & Nicholas Lawson, 2016. "Defaults, Mandates, and Taxes: Policy Design with Active and Passive Decision-Makers," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 18(2), pages 438-462.
    7. John Karl Scholz & Ananth Seshadri & Surachai Khitatrakun, 2006. "Are Americans Saving "Optimally" for Retirement?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(4), pages 607-643, August.
    8. Alicia H. Munnell & Wenliang Hou & Anthony Webb, 2014. "NRRI Update Shows Half Still Falling Short," Issues in Brief ib2014-20, Center for Retirement Research.
    9. Benjamin R. Handel, 2013. "Adverse Selection and Inertia in Health Insurance Markets: When Nudging Hurts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 2643-2682, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sulka, Tomasz, 2022. "Planning and saving for retirement," DICE Discussion Papers 384, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    2. Moore, Dylan T. & Slemrod, Joel, 2021. "Optimal tax systems with endogenous behavioral biases," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    3. Thomas Høgholm Jørgensen & Jakob Egholt Søgaard, 2021. "Welfare Reforms and the Division of Parental Leave," CESifo Working Paper Series 9035, CESifo.
    4. Zarek Brot-Goldberg & Timothy Layton & Boris Vabson & Adelina Yanyue Wang, 2023. "The Behavioral Foundations of Default Effects: Theory and Evidence from Medicare Part D," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(10), pages 2718-2758, October.

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    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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