The Welfare Effects of Nudges: A Case Study of Energy Use Social Comparisons
The Welfare Effects of Nudges: A Case Study of Energy Use Social Comparisons
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DOI：
10.1257/app.20170328
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发表时间：
2019-01-01
影响因子：
6.2
通讯作者：
Kessler, Judd B.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Allcott, Hunt;Kessler, Judd B.
“助推”式干预通常被认为是成功的，如果它们以低成本产生了巨大的行为改变，但它们很少受到全面的社会福利评估。我们将实地实验与一个简单的理论框架结合起来，以评估一个特别与政策相关的干预措施——家庭能源社会比较报告的福利效应。在我们的样本中，报告增加了社会福利，尽管传统的评估方法夸大了收益，因为它们忽略了助推接受者所产生的重大成本。总的来说，家庭能源报告的福利收益可能被夸大了6.2亿美元。我们开发了一种最优目标预测算法；这种方法将使福利收益翻倍。
"Nudge"-style interventions are often deemed successful if they generate large behavior change at low cost, but they are rarely subjected to full social welfare evaluations. We combine a field experiment with a simple theoretical framework to evaluate the welfare effects of one especially policy-relevant intervention, home energy social comparison reports. In our sample, the reports increase social welfare, although traditional evaluation approaches overstate gains because they ignore significant costs incurred by nudge recipients. Overall, home energy report welfare gains might be overstated by $620 million. We develop a prediction algorithm for optimal targeting; this approach would double the welfare gains.