The Policy Need for Behavioral Analyses: Theory, Methods, and Nudges

Globally, public policy debates are focusing the need for behavioral analyses; specifically, the behavioral assessments and evaluations of already-intervened socioeconomic policies, the critical behavioral appraisals of policies before implementation, and testing of behavioral policy research methods and instruments. In Pakistan, these evaluations and assessments are significantly missing from policy formation and implementation processes, which is why the current research has been designed with the intent of theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic significance of aligning policy with behavioral evidence. There are three inter-related sections of the paper; first reviews the theoretical articulation of policy-evidence relationship, second focuses on the nudges needed for behavioral change which can be of use for policy adherence along with global and local case studies as pragmatic examples and the third highlights the methods derived from behavioral, sociological, and anthropological fields of inquiry which are of use for behavioral assessments. The sections cover the theoretical, pragmatic, and methodological components to pin down the fact for evidence-based policy solutions, theory-methods-action nexus needs strengthening. The final section concludes with a few recommendations.