What do heuristics have to do with policymaking?

Shabnam Mousavi ()
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Shabnam Mousavi: Johns Hopkins University and Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, 2018, vol. 2, issue 1, 69-74

Abstract: In an era where behavioral insights overwhelmingly shape policy interventions, heuristic-based decision-making merits closer consideration. That policy environments are complex is not a new topic, nor is the insight that simple heuristic solutions might work best in some complex situations. I move beyond the more common interpretations of heuristics, defined in terms of cognitive biases, to a research program focused on a systematic study of fast-and-frugal heuristics as effective decision tools. I suggest that this approach to heuristics provides a coherent framework for understanding why and how interventions based on behavioral insights work, which in turn can aid policymakers and their advisors on "What Works"**. I draw on nudge-based policies and Behavioral Insights Team report to illustrate my point. **What Works is a network of centers that designs and implements interventions based on a mixture of tools for effective policymaking that includes bans, mandates, and incentives in addition to behavioral-based methods -headed since 2013 by David Halpern in the UK. I refer here to both this institution and the literal meaning of the phrase.

Keywords: heuristics; policy interventions; behavioral insights; complexity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D01 D03 D04 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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