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The Double Dividend of Attention-Releasing Policies

Author

Listed:
  • Steffen Altmann
  • Andreas Grunewald
  • Jonas Radbruch

Abstract

We study the effects of two widely observed behavioral policy interventions⸻the simplification of complex decisions and the implementation of high-quality defaults. Based on a laboratory experiment featuring a dual-task paradigm, we demonstrate that these policies do not only improve decisions in the targeted choice domain, but also yield substantial positive indirect effects on non-targeted decisions. The latter emerge as a result of an attention-releasing effect of the policies. Furthermore, the relative importance of the direct and indirect effects varies systematically across the population. Evaluations that focus only on the targeted domain may therefore significantly underestimate the overall effectiveness of attention-releasing policies and provide a biased assessment of their distributional consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Steffen Altmann & Andreas Grunewald & Jonas Radbruch, 2024. "The Double Dividend of Attention-Releasing Policies," CESifo Working Paper Series 11069, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11069
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    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp11069.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    administrative burden; limited attention; defaults; nudges; limited cognitive resources; behavioral economics; laboratory experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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