"The behavioural insights approach applies evidence about human behaviour to practical problems".
A new book "Behavioural Insights" by Michael Hallsworth and Elspeth Kirkman as part of the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series. Both authors have been key figures in the development of the Behavioural Insights Team and are in a strong position to put forward the basic ideas of the behavioural insights approach. The book will certainly be useful for students and general readers looking for a concise treatment to help them understand the basic concepts and also functions well as case study material, particularly given the high prominence of the BIT throughout the last decade. The book is divided into six main chapters. i) The first chapter "Introducing Behavioural Insights" provides an overview of the behavioural insights approach, which the authors see as applying evidence about human behaviour to key practical policy questions. In particular, the authors position a behavioural insights approach as providing a corrective to various types of rational choice approaches grounded in the idea that people make fully deliberative decisions around key choice areas. The chapter outlines the development of teams in the area and the wide impact that the approach has had across many international organisations ii) The second chapter outlines the history of the approach, in particular pointing to the heuristics and biases paradigm and the development of libertarian paternalism, as well as the activity that followed by the publication of Nudge. The chapter also includes an account of the development of cognitive and social psychology more generally. They also provide an account of the recent development of a behavioural insights eco-system with the development of a range of new agencies, field journals, and frameworks. iii) The third chapter "behavioural insights in practice" provides a number of case studies in the use of the approach throughout health, finance, and environmental applications iv) The fourth chapter "Applying Behavioural Insights" provides a framework for the application of the approach, working through the OECD BASIC toolkit for the application of behavioural science in the context of a particular application. v) The fifth chapter considers criticisms and limitations, in particular addressing issues of generalizability, ethics, measurement, longevity of effects, scale-up problems, replication crises, theoretical coherence, public acceptability, and others. This chapter would be a very useful reading to encourage students to engage in a deep level with intellectual challenges that have a major bearing on practice. vi) The sixth chapter provides thoughts on the future of the approach, outlining ideas of how the approach might normalise and become a mainstream, politically neutral, and robust feature of policy decision making.
Overall, this book is a very useful and concise introduction from two well-placed authors and will be very helpful for people interested in an overview of an area that is having increasing influence in public policy throughout the world. I would personally be interested in having more discussions about the historical routes, ethical foundations, and future directions for the behavioural insights approach, and its status as a field. The book provides a cogent target point for such discussions and I look forward to using it as a reading in seminars for the foreseeable future. Below are some background readings to consider if this book was being used as a target for a seminar or workshop. The authors also provide their own list of related readings at the end of the book.
Background Readings
Thaler and Sunstein: Nudge: Improving Decision about Health, Wealth, and Happiness
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