Module POLM227M for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
POLM227M: Behavioural Public Policy and Administration
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover the following topics:
- What is Behavioural Public Policy?
- Bounded Rationality; The Automatic and the Reflective System
- Key Insights and Heuristics from Behavioural Economics
- Applications of ‘Nudge’ in public policy
- The politics of Libertarian Paternalism
- Ethical issues in behavioural public policy
- Combining policy tools: How Regulation and Nudge can be complementary
- Insights from psychology and behavioural economics for Public Administrators
Throughout the module we discuss a variety of policy applications including areas such as Health & Lifestyle; Environmental Behaviours; Payment of taxes; Savings and financial behaviour, linking these to the underlying theory from behavioural economics and social psychology and reviewing evidence of their effectiveness.
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 278 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hr seminars |
| Guided independent study | 118 | Reading and seminar preparation, including formative reading, reflecting and formative assessment tasks |
| Guided independent study | 160 | Assignment preparation |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
The module will be supported by ELE materials, including links to core texts, podcasts and lectures.
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Cohen, I.G., Fernandez Lynch, H. & Ronertson, C.T. (Eds). 2016. Nudging Health: Health Law and Behavioural Economics.Johns Hopkins University Press.
Galizzi, Matteo M. 2014. “What is really behavioral in behavioral health policy? And does it work?” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 36(1): 25-60.
Grimmelikhuijsen, S., Jilke, S., Olsen, A.L. & Tummers, L. 2016. ‘Behavioral Public Administration’, Public Administration Review.
James, S. 2012. “The contribution of behavioral economics to tax reform in the United Kingdom”, Journal of Socio-Economics, 41: 468-475.
John, P. 2016. ‘Behavioural Approaches: How Nudges Lead to more Intelligent Policy Design’, in Philippe Zittoun and B. Guy Peters. (Eds). Contemporary Approaches to Public Policy, Palgrave Macmillan.
John, P. et al. 2011. Nudge, Nudge, Think,Think: Experimenting with Ways to Change Civic Behaviour. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Kahneman, D. 2013. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Low, D. (Ed). 2011. Behavioural Economics and Policy Design: Examples from Singapore. Civil Service College Singapore/ World Scientific.
Ly, K. & Soman, D. 2013. Nudging Around the World. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
OECD. 2017. Behavioural Insights and Public Policy: Lessons from Around the World. OECD. Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264270480-en. Read online:
Oliver, A. 2017. The origins of behavioural public policy. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Oliver, A. 2013. Ed. Behavioural Public Policy. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Oliver, Adam. 2013. “From Nudging to Budging: Using Behavioural Economics to Inform Public Sector Policy”, Journal of Social Policy, 42(4): 685-700.
Shafir, E (Ed). 2012. The Behavioural Foundations of Public Policy. Princetown University Press.
Sunstein, C. 2016. The Ethics of Influence: Government in the Age of Behavioral Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sunstein, C. Forthcoming. ‘Do People Like Nudges?, Administrative Law Review , Forthcoming. Draft Working Paper Available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=2604084
Sunstein, C. 2015. Why Nudge? The Politics of Libertarian Paternalism. Yale University Press.
Thaler, R. and C. Sunstein. 2008. Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New Haven, Yale University Press.
