Call for papers: Special Issue Fall 2016 - Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics
CALL FOR PAPERS: Special Issue FALL 2016
The Behavioural Turn in Public Policy: New Evidence from Experiments
Guest Editors
Francesco Bogliacino
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
fbogliacino@unal.edu.co
Cristiano Codagnone
Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
cristiano.codagnone@unimi.it
Giuseppe A. Veltri
Leicester University, Leicester, United Kingdom
g.a.veltri@leicester.ac.uk
The 2008 bestseller Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein has openly revealed the increasing interest in the use of Behavioral Economics in the domain of Public Policy. Particularly important has been the use of experiments as a milestone for Evidence Based Policy. The European Commission has launched in 2012 a series of behavioural experiments to test policy options. The OECD consumer program is also using the behavioural approach to policy, and recently the United Nations Environmental Program has launched a ten years framework for the use of behavioural economics to foster sustainable consumption.
The initial enthusiasm related with the successful use of default options in the design of choice architectures related with savings and health insurance plans was abandoned in favour of a new consensus for which more complex designs and policy options should be evaluated. Nevertheless, the use of experiments has opened new frontiers for the policy designs in domains such as poverty, development, belief formation, and education among the others.
Many situations and areas of behaviourally informed policy interventions are complex and require new and more sophisticated treatments than the parsimonious and simple nudges that have been made popular by Thaler & Sunstein. Breaking the impulsive flow of online gamblers requires well-articulated nudges, of which default settings are just one solution among many. Convincing consumers to buy eco-friendly car only through nudges embedded into labels is unrealistic. Constraining the packaging options of cigarettes as the last channel of marketing for tobacco industry can be done effectively using fear appeals, leading to an emotion driven behavioural change.
This special issue should include experiments that have tested policy options in different domains and would help defining a new taxonomy of modes of thoughts, affective response and interventions to prevent the emergence of inefficient outcomes, to solve social dilemma or to avoid inconsistent behaviour by consumers. Experimental evidence from developing countries or new domains such as the study of poverty and inequality are welcome.
The Editorial Committee will particularly welcome papers relevant for evaluating national and/or international experiences on topics such as:
• Savings
• Consumers protection (including activities in the online domain)
• Labour force participation
• Poverty and inequality
• Health care decisions and lifestyle decisions
• Taxation
• Financial products and markets
• Environmental sustainable behaviour
The papers must include new empirical evidence coming from experimental research. The Editorial Committee composed by the three Guest Editors and the managing Editors (Floriana Cerniglia and Sandro Montresor) will pre-select the papers meeting the requirements of the Special Issue and of the Journal and will send the papers to two anonymous referees.
Submission should be done through the online system at the link: https://www.editorialmanager.com/epol/default.aspx, selecting “Special Issue” from the Menu.
Deadline for Submission: 28th February 2016
Proposed Timeline
Submission: 28th February 2016
First revision: 31st May 2016
Reply and Second revision: 31st August 2016
Finalization: 30th September 2016
