The Download of the Week is Stumble, Predict, Nudge: How Behavioral Economics Informs Law and Policy by Orly Lobel & On Amir. Here is the abstract:
Research in the field of behavioral economics indicates that humans
stumble in their decisionmaking in predictable ways that can often be
corrected by a gentle nudge from the appropriate regulatory authority.
Two new books–Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational and Richard Thaler
and Cass Sunstein's Nudge– recount the findings of behavioral research
on predictable patterns in human decisionmaking and lay the foundation
for regulation through choice architecture that recognizes these human
stumbles. In this Review Essay, we provide a critical account of
remaining gaps in behavioral economics research and suggest that some
types of behavioral insights may be better translated into law and
policy reforms than others. We further argue that Nudge's concept of
"libertarian paternalism" both understates and exaggerates the
jurisprudential and policy implications of regulatory innovation. While
key insights from the behavioral field may lead to effective regulation
systems with minimal intervention, these systems entail costs, have
distributional effects, solve macro coordination problems, and are
inevitably value driven. Moreover, policy nudges serve merely as a
first stage of sequenced regulation where, inevitably, more coercive
measures are required in later stages. The idea of choice architecture
is then related to the growing body of regulatory studies collectively
termed "new governance." We conclude with a call for a more nuanced
account of the range of mechanisms as well as the limits, costs, and
consequences of applying lessons from the field of behavioral economics
to law.
Highly recommended.