Tag: nudge theory

carrot dangling on a string.

International Pandemic Lawmaking: Some Perspectives from Behavioral Economics

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

This post was originally published on the Verfassungsblog as part of our joint symposium on international pandemic lawmaking.

By Anne Van Aaken and Tomer Broude

In this brief essay, we wish to highlight some insights from behavioral economics that can contribute to a successful process of international pandemic lawmaking. Our interest here is not to engage with individual or collective psychological reactions to pandemics or other large-scale risks, or with substantive policy made in their wake. Several such behavioral issues and dimensions have been dealt with elsewhere, not without (ongoing) spirited debate. For example, the utility of simple reminders to get vaccinated as individual “nudges,” contrasting with enforced vaccination is a continuing issue. Indeed, the WHO is addressing such approaches through the Technical Advisory Group on Behavioural Insights and Sciences for Health, in accordance with general UN behavioral science policy. Similarly, elite decision-makers’ tendencies towards procrastination and omission bias in the face of high degrees of uncertainty, on both national and international levels have arguably negatively impacted large-scale policies with respect to COVID-19. Understanding these and other behavioral dynamics may be crucial in determining the substantive content of a cooperative pandemic regime. Here, however, while building on related frameworks of analysis from the field of behavioral economics, as applied to international law (including nudge theory), our focus is on the process and design of pandemic international law-making.

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Doctor or surgeon with organ transport after organ donation for surgery in front of the clinic in protective clothing.

How to Encourage Organ Donation

James W. Lytle Leave a comment

By James W. Lytle

Last week, Bill of Health published a Q&A with Phil Walton, the Project Lead for Deemed Consent Legislation with the National Health Service Blood and Transplant Division, and Alexandra Glazier, the President/CEO of the New England Donor Services.

In the first part of this conversation, Walton and Glazier described the various frameworks undergirding organ donor registries in their home countries. Walton detailed the “deemed consent” or “opt-out” registry employed by Wales and England, while Glazier detailed the opt-in, prompted choice framework in the U.S.

In this second installment, Walton and Glazier discuss strategies to encourage organ donation, regardless of the opt-in or opt-out framework. The conversation also touched on health disparities and strategies to address them.

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adult and child hands holding red heart, organ donation concept image.

Opt-in vs. Opt-out Organ Donation Schemes: Evidence from the US and UK

James W. Lytle Leave a comment

By James W. Lytle

We need to encourage organ donation. In the U.S. alone, even with a record number of about 40,000 transplants in 2019 and some progress made towards closing the gap, approximately 108,000 Americans are on the waiting list.

In considering the best way to increase organ donation, much of the debate has focused on how to make organ donor registries more successful: nothing facilitates the prospect for organ donation more than knowing that a potential donor has already indicated their intention to donate.

Should registries, like those in the U.S., require people to elect to join (the “opt-in” approach) or should they presume consent to organ donation and register everyone except those who explicitly “opt-out,” as is the case in certain other countries?

I asked two transplant professionals, one from the U.S. and one from Wales, to help consider this question and related issues involving organ donation.

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Adult and child holding kidney shaped paper on textured blue background.

Nudging Organ Donation in the United States

Chloe Reichel Leave a comment

Cross-posted from Harvard Law Today, where it originally appeared on November 13, 2020. 

By Chloe Reichel

Nationally and globally, demand for organ transplants outstrips supply. In the United States last year, 19,267 donors made a record-setting 39,718 transplants possible, but nearly 109,000 Americans still remain on the organ transplant waiting list.

Cass Sunstein ’78, Robert Walmsley University Professor and former Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration, believes “Nudge theory” might help bridge this gap between supply and demand.

Sunstein joined scholars and leaders in transplant services on Friday, Nov. 6 to discuss strategies to boost rates of organ donation at “Nudging Organ Donation: Tools to Encourage Organ Availability,” an event hosted by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.

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Illustration of a cartoon person pushing a large yellow cube

Nudges or Shoves in the Secondary Use of Health Data: What is the More Desirable Approach? (Part I)

Marcelo Corrales Leave a comment

By Marcelo Corrales Compagnucci, Janos Meszaros & Timo Minssen

Empirical studies in behavioral economics have demonstrated how people are biased and often make poor decisions against their best interests. This has led policy makers to promote choice-preserving approaches, a.k.a. nudges. However, there has also been an increasingly vocal group of legal scholars who are interest in asking whether mandates and bans can be more effective than nudges. As pointed out by Cass R. Sunstein and others, the rationale behind this question is very simple: If we know that people make mistakes, why should we insist on adopting approaches that preserve freedom of choice?

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