Policy by Design: The Dawn of Behaviourally-Informed Government

FROM REVENUE COLLECTION to trade policy to infrastructure investment, the varied mandates of government are complicated and diverse. Yet at its core, the role of government is simple: To maximize the welfare of citizens by improving their wellbeing, creating fair and efficient marketplaces and planning for the future.

Governments attempt to accomplish this by helping citizens, organizations, their own agencies and local businesses make good choices. As such, the government — just like every other organization that exists — is in the business of behaviour change. Indeed, almost every activity that a government undertakes boils down to the need to encourage or discourage certain behaviours. There are four particular types of behaviour change that policymakers focus on:

1. COMPLIANCE. Getting people and businesses to behave in accordance with prescribed standards and by certain deadlines.

2. CHOICE SWITCHING. Encouraging citizens to perform certain tasks online or to save for the future.

3. CONSUMPTION. Promoting consumption takes many forms — from getting seniors to consume their medications to getting young people to eat healthily.

4. ACCELERATION OF DECISIONS. In many situations, officials want to accelerate decision making in important areas — e.g., for businesses to start implementing environmentally-friendly policies.

Given the centrality of behaviour change to virtually everything governments do, it is a matter of great surprise that until recently, most governments had scarce capabilities in the science of behaviour — or, as it is referred to nowadays, Behavioural Economics. Sure,