HTML
PDF
FLIP
XML
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This journal is licensed by a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International. For the CC licenses, the principle isthe creative freedom. This system complements the copyright without opposing it, conscious of its importance in our culture. The content of the articles is the responsibility of each author, and does not compromise in any way, to the journal or the university. It allows the transmission and reproduction of titles, abstracts and full content, with academic, scientific, cultural ends, provided acknowledgment of the respective source. This work cannot be used for commercial purposes.
They journal does not charge authors for submission or publication.
Abstract
This paper analyzes the advisability of applying behavioral economics (BE) by social researchers and policymakers. Over the last twenty years, the number of contributions about BE has grown exponentially in the scientific literature, reports published by international organizations, and the so-called Behavioral Insight Units (nudge units). However, to consider BE a core discipline, it is necessary to ensure that all such behavioral practice corresponds to a distinctive approach or field of study. This article evaluates whether BE provides a solid methodological and unique approach. It has analyzed twenty relevant articles with the label “behavioral economics” published in the last five years in recognized journals to evaluate whether they follow a distinct method. According to the results, the level of compliance is high (84%), which amplifies the possibilities of BE as an approach in social sciences, besides reinforcing its importance in supporting the implementation of public policies. Nevertheless, the analysis also provides some observations about subsequent developments and consideration of the discipline as a homogeneous approach.
Keywords:
References
Akerlof, G. (1970). The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84(3), 488-500. https://doi.org/10.2307/1879431
Akerlof, G. A., & Kranton, R. E. (2010). Identity economics. How Our Identities Shape Our Work, Wages, and Well-Being. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400834181
Alcott, H., & Kessler, J. B. (2019). The Welfare Effects of Nudges: A Case Study of Energy Use Social Comparisons. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 11(1), 236-276. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20170328
Aliende, I. (2020). Choice Architects and Behavioral Economics: Creating a Common Framework to Enhance Research and Collaboration. International Journal of Applied Behavioral Economics, 9(4), 74-82. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJABE.2020100105
American Economic Association. (2021, Sep 30). JEL Classification System. https://www.aeaweb.org/econlit/jelCodes.php
Angner, E. (2019). We’re all behavioral economists now. Journal of Economic Methodology, 26(3), 195-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350178X.2019.1625210
Barberis, N. (2018). Richard Thaler and the rise of behavioral economics. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 120(3), 661-684. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjoe.12313
Battaglio Jr, R. P., Belardinelli, P., Bellé, N., & Cantarelli, P. (2019). Behavioral public administration ad fontes: A synthesis of research on bounded rationality, cognitive biases, and nudging in public organizations. Public Administration Review, 79(3), 304- 320. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12994
Behaviourally Informed Organizations (BI-Org). (2019). About the partnership. https://www.biorgpartnership.com/the-project-full
Benartzi, S., Beshears, J., Milkman, K. L., Sunstein, C. R., Thaler, R. H., Shankar, M., Tucker-Ray, W., Congdon, W.J., & Galing, S. (2017). Should governments invest more in nudging? Psychological Science, 28(8), 1041-1055. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617702501
Benson, B., & Manoogian, J. (2021, Sep 30). The Cognitive Bias Codex-180+ biases. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Cognitive_Bias_Codex_-_180%2B_biases,_designed_by_John_Manoogian_III_(jm3).png
Berg, N. (2014). The consistency and ecological rationality approaches to normative bounded rationality. Journal of Economic Methodology, 21(4), 375-395. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350178X.2014.969910
BEworks. (2020). Our approach. https://beworks.com/what-we-do/#our-approach
Business Insights Unit. (2016). Behavioural insights in NSW: Update report 2016. Department of Premier and Cabinet (NSW). https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2016-12/apo-nid181236.pdf
Camerer, C. F., & Loewenstein, G. (2003). Behavioral economics: past, present, future. In C.F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein, & M. Rabin (Eds.), Advances in Behavioral Economics (pp. 3-52). Princeton: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400829118-004
Clarivate (2021, Jan 21): Web of Science. http://apps.webofknowledge.com/
Digital Science & Research Solutions Inc. (2021, Jan 21). Dimensions. https://app.dimensions.ai/
Ekelund Jr, R. B., & Hébert, R. F. (2006). A History of Economic Theory and Method. Waveland Press.
Gawlowski, R. (2019). Behavioral Insights as a New Generation of Public Service Delivery. Polish Political Science Yearbook, 48(2), 319-329. https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2019208
Geiger, N. (2017). The rise of behavioral economics: A quantitative assessment. Social Science History, 41(3), 555-583. https://doi.org/10.1017/ssh.2017.17
Halpern, D. (2015). Inside the nudge unit: How small changes can make a big difference.
Random House.
Hummel, D., & Maedche, A. (2019). How effective is nudging? A quantitative review on the effect sizes and limits of empirical nudging studies. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 80, 47-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2019.03.005
Jones, O. D. (2018). Why behavioral economics isn’t better, and how it could be. In J.C. Teitelbaum & K. Zeiler (Eds.), Research Handbook on Behavioral Law and Economics (pp. 476-504). Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781849805681.00028
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 363-391. https://doi.org/10.2307/1914185
Kahneman, D., Wakker, P. P., & Sarin, R. (1997). Back to Bentham? Explorations of experienced utility. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(2), 375-406. https://doi.org/10.1162/003355397555235
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking fast and slow. Penguin Books.
Katona, G. (1951). Psychological analysis of economic behavior. McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Maialeh, R. (2019). Generalization of results and neoclassical rationality: unresolved controversies of behavioural economics methodology. Quality & Quantity, 53(4), 1743-1761. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-019-00837-1
OECD. (2017). Behavioural Insights and Public Policy Lessons from Around the World. OECD Publishing, Paris. https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/behavioural-insights- and-public-policy_9789264270480-en
OECD. (2019). Behavioural insights. https://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/behavioural-insights.htm
Pesendorfer, W. (2006). Behavioral economics comes of age: A review essay on advances in behavioral economics. Journal of Economic Literature, 44(3), 712-721. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.44.3.712
Ricardo, D. (2018). The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. In J.L. Simon (Ed.), The Economics of Population: Classic Writings (pp. 65-68). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351291521-9
Roberto, C. A., & Kawachi, I. (2015). Behavioral Economics & Public Health. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780199398331.001.0001
Rotman School of Management. (2020). Behavioral Economic in Action. https://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/FacultyAndResearch/ResearchCentres/BEAR.
Schmidt, A. T., & Engelen, B. (2020). The ethics of nudging: An overview. Philosophy Compass, 15(4), e12658. https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12658
Simon, H. A. (1955). A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 69(1), 99-118. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884852
Smith, A. (1937). The wealth of nations [1776] (Vol. 11937).
Smith, A. (2010). The theory of moral sentiments. Penguin. https://doi.
org/10.1002/9781118011690.ch10
Smith, T. G. (2016). Is behavioural economics ready to save the world? The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 4(12), 982. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(16)30060-2
Sunstein, C. R. (2018). Nudging: a very short guide. In B. van der Sloot & A. de Groot (Eds.), The Handbook of Privacy Studies (pp. 173-180). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789048540136
Terziev, V., & Kanev, D. (2018). Modern developments in behavioral economics. In The International Science and Technology Conference “FarEast-on” (pp. 10-23). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15577-3_2
Thaler, R., & Sunstein, C. (2008). Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Yale University Press.
Thaler, R. H. (2016). Behavioral economics: Past, present, and future. American Economic Review, 106(7), 1577-1600. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.106.7.1577
The Behavioural Insights Team. (2014). EAST. Four Simple Ways to Apply Behavioural Insights. https://www.bi.team/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BIT-Publication-EAST_FA_WEB.pdf
The Decision Lab. (2020, Sep 30). Biases. https://thedecisionlab.com/biases.
Reference by
.png){kind=link}