No reason to expect large and consistent effects of nudge interventions
Szaszi, Higney, Charlton, Tipton and colleagues reply to the same meta-analysis from a different direction. Their reading is that nudge interventions may work under certain conditions, and that the conditions under which they work are barely identified in the literature. Applying three different bias-correcting methods to the same database, they obtained average effects ranging from slightly below zero to very small, all far below the unadjusted estimate. They also emphasise the variation between studies, which remains large even after adjustment, and note that some of that variation may itself arise from differences in publication bias between areas. The conclusion is the one worth carrying into any argument about behavioural policy: the question is not whether nudges work on average, but which ones work where, and that question has not been answered.
Szaszi, Higney, Charlton, Tipton and colleagues reply to the same meta-analysis from a different direction. Their reading is that nudge interventions may work under certain conditions, and that the conditions under which they work are barely identified in the literature. Applying three different bias-correcting methods to the same database, they obtained average effects ranging from slightly below zero to very small, all far below the unadjusted estimate. They also emphasise the variation between studies, which remains large even after adjustment, and note that some of that variation may itself arise from differences in publication bias between areas. The conclusion is the one worth carrying into any argument about behavioural policy: the question is not whether nudges work on average, but which ones work where, and that question has not been answered.
Written from the abstract, Semantic Scholar.
What our sources record
Reproduced as it was written when this source was checked, figures and all.
Three correction methods applied to the same data give average effects from slightly below zero to very small, with large heterogeneity; the authors conclude the conditions under which nudges work are barely identified. doi:10.1073/pnas.2200732119
Where we use it
- Why You Never Change the Setting, Why We Act
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The source
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2200732119
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2200732119