23 Behavioural public policy

Behavioural public policy can broadly be defined as public policy, using insights from behavioural economics, that aims to influence human behaviour. To introduce key ideas and illustrate the nature of behavioural public policy we begin with an example that has been widely studied across many countries, namely the wording of tax reminder letters. We summarise evidence that simple changes to the wording of tax reminder letters can positively influence repayment rates. We next discuss the methods of behavioural public policy including Nudge, MINDSPACE and the COM-B model. These methods provide a framework for identifying choice settings where behavioural insights are likely to be most relevant, and also provide a framework for identifying and evaluating possible behavioural interventions. We finish the chapter with some further examples of behavioural public policy in action, such as the Save More Tomorrow programme for retirement saving