Harnessing Behavioral Science to Design Disposable Shopping Bag Regulations

Abstract

Policies to curb the use of disposable shopping bags take two main forms: (a) They provide market-based incentives, imposing fees or taxes on disposable shopping bags or offering rewards for bringing reusable bags from home, or (b) they impose command -and -control policies, which ban certain types of disposable shopping bags altogether. In this article, we review evidence on the effectiveness of these policy design choices through a behavioral economics lens and highlight best practices for policymakers considering similar legislation.