Applying cognitive perspectives on decision-making to the policy advice process: a practitioner’s view

Abstract

Behavioural economics and the related fields of cognitive and social psychology are now very much in the mainstream, as the highly visible success of the Behavioural Insights Unit in the United Kingdom attests. A robust and diverse range of findings about the limits of human thinking challenges policy practitioners to reconsider how they both design and advise on policies. This challenge is particularly relevant given that the training and background of policy advisors typically does not include these fields, with political science, law and conventional economics much more common.