A Political Economy of Behavioural Public Policy

237 Pages·2023·1.091 MB·English

by  Adam Oliver

A Political Economy of Behavioural Public Policy
Behaviouralpublicpolicyhasthusfarbeendominatedbyapproaches
thatarebasedonthepremisethatitisentirelylegitimateforpolicy-
makers to design policies that nudge or influence people to avoid
desires that may notbe in their ownself- interest. This bookargues,
instead, for a liberal political economy that radically departs from
these paternalistic frameworks. Oliver argues for a framework
whereby thosewho impose no substantiveharms on others ought to
be free of manipulative or coercive interference. On this view, BPP
does not seek to “correct” an individual’s conception of the desired
life.ThisbookisthethirdinatrilogyofbooksbyAdamOliveronthe
originsandconceptualfoundationsofBPP.
  is a behavioural economist and behavioural public
policy analyst in the Department of Social Policy at the London
School of Economics and Political Science. He has published and
taught widely in the areas of health economics and policy, behav-
ioural economics and behavioural public policy. He is a founding
editor-in-chief of the journals Health Economics, Policy and Law
and Behavioural Public Policy. He edited Behavioural Public Policy
(Cambridge University Press, 2013) and authored The Origins of
Behavioural Public Policy (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and
Reciprocity and the Art of Behavioural Public Policy (Cambridge
University Press, 2019). He is the chair of the International
Behavioural Public Policy Association and founder of the Annual
InternationalBehaviouralPublicPolicyConference.
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Published online by Cambridge University Press
A Political Economy of
Behavioural Public Policy
 
LondonSchoolofEconomicsandPoliticalScience
Published online by Cambridge University Press
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781009282567
DOI:10.1017/9781009282574
©AdamOliver2023
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Firstpublished2023
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ISBN978-1-009-28255-0Paperback
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Published online by Cambridge University Press
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Published online by Cambridge University Press
Contents
ListofIllustrations pagex
Preface xi
Theme xi
NotesonStyle xii
Acknowledgements xiv
Introduction 1
WhereIHaveBeen 1
WhereIAmGoing 6
1 Setting the Scene 10
TheOriginofReciprocity 12
Scarcity,AbundanceandReflection 15
ConstrainingFreedom 22
FoodforThought 25
2 Other Voices 26
PaternalisticyetFree 27
PaternalismwithoutFreedom 32
PaternalismatAll? 38
FoodforThought 40
3 AKingdomof Ends 41
MillAgain 43
FourLimitations 46
TheReturntoLiberalism 51
UnobjectionablePaternalism? 54
FoodforThought 55
vii
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viii 
4 The View from Nowhere 56
HedonismandBeyond 57
TheParetianTurnandthevNMSidestep 61
TheNewEconomicsofHappiness 65
ViewsfromEverywhere 67
AShortSummary 70
FoodforThought 72
5 Nourishing Flourishing 73
SomePremisesandComponents 75
AgainstEgoism 77
NurturingReciprocity 82
FoodforThought 87
6 Anyone forDesert? 88
AContinuingTasteforDesert 91
IdentifyingDesert 94
TheDeservingPoor 100
FoodforThought 103
7 Private Matters 104
CurtailingInterference 106
ACompetitiveEdge 108
AppealingtoOurBetterAngels 113
FoodforThought 118
8 PublicMatters 119
ALiberalCommonGoal 121
ANeedtoCompete? 125
OtherWays 128
FoodforThought 133
9 The Lives of Others 134
WhentoRegulate? 137
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 ix
DefiningBudges 141
IllustratingBudges 144
FoodforThought 148
10 Summing Up 149
HowIArrivedHere 149
AndFinally... 153
FinalFoodforThought 155
Notes 156
References 202
Index 210
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