Boosts, Knowledge, and Autonomy

Max Molden

Review of Behavioral Economics, 2024, vol. 11, issue 4, 519-538

Abstract: Boosts are educational measures intended to enhance competencies by improving the use of heuristics. Supporters argue that boosts are an epistemically less demanding and more autonomy-compatible alternative to nudges. Consequently, boosting appears to be an attractive option for public policy. However, boosting policies too face problems. Firstly, there are tensions with autonomy: on the one hand, boosts provided by the government are based on the coercive, and thus potentially autonomy-infringing, levying of taxes; on the other, boosts may opaquely impact what people want since people’s wants are not stable but change. Secondly, there are epistemic challenges, meaning that providing fine boosting programmes is difficult. The governmental process, however, is in a worse position to overcome these burdens than the market process. Overall, boosts are not an unreservedly recommendable policy option for governments. But if one accepts the tensions with autonomy, governmental boosting programmes should be market-based.

Date: 2024
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