Applying Behavioral Sciences in the Service of Four Major Economic Problems

Abstract

Behavioral scientists have developed a powerful tool kit for understanding individual decisionmaking and have embedded it in a framework that acknowledges the need for robust experimentation to determine optimal public policy. But to date, the integration of behavioral science into public policy has proceeded from developing a set of tools to then searching for problems these tools can help solve. Behavioral science can play an even more important role in the policymaking process in coming years if practitioners instead begin with some of the large-scale questions that economic policymakers face and then develop insights that, often as a complement to more traditional policy tools, can help solve them.