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Without you knowing it, you, dear reader, were influenced by Richard H. Thaler’s Wahrscheinlichschon today.
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Have you seen, for example, when driving to office Schilderan of highway, on which a weeping girl warns against becoming a Rasernzum orphan? Have you darübergeärgert at lunch in canteen, that chocolate cake is at very back of stand – concealed by bowl with fruit salad? Or have you, ladies and gentlemen, targeted small fly on toilet, which is painted in many urinals?
Although at first glance re is little to tunhat with economics: The examples are all included in research area of Richard H. Thaler, winner of this year’s Alfred Nobel Memory Prize FürWirtschaftswissenschaften, also known as Nobel Prize in economics.
Behavioral economists are frontier workers
Thaler, 72, works as a professor at DerUniversität Chicago. His specialty is behavioral economics, a comparatively young discipline of economics – which was influenced and furr developed by Thaler. Behavioral economists are frontier workers, y work at intersection of classical economics and psychology or neuroscience. They draw on classical economic ories and combine m, often in experiments, with insights from or sciences.
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At heart of Thaler’s work is refore always question: what predictions of economic models are correct – and where do y fail in reality, because people do not function strictly rationally? In this sense, Thaler is not only an economist, but also a psychologist, a sociologist and a human being.
Thaler coined concept of “Nudgings”
The jury of Swedish Reichsbank praised in its explanatory statement for unofficial Nobel Prize that Thaler made “Economics of human being”. The decision for US economist is remarkable in two respects: First, Thaler is sole prize-winner, which is exception in approximately 50-year history of award; Secondly, he was explicitly honored for his basic work – and not for a concrete model or research results. In fact, Thaler’s research is of enormous practical relevance, he has studied small and big questions of economics – without losing sight of all numbers but people.
Among or things, Thaler coined concept of Nudgings, which he made popular for first time in a 2008 published book. It describes a practice of directing behaviour of people without bans or serious interventions in ir freedom of choice in a desired direction. By giving m instead a Nudge, a small nudges.
He worked for Obama
Such Nudging in practice often has remarkable effect, as examples show: emotional messages on street signs reduce number of traffic deaths far more than conventional warnings. Placing chocolate cake behind fruit makes for a much healthier meal selection in canteen. And small fly in urinal increases male target accuracy by 80 percent. Small nudge – great benefit.
The politicians are also interested in action levers of behavioral economics: former president of USA, Barack Obama, invited Thaler to White House as a consultant, in British government re is a separate Nudging department and also Chancellor Merkel Collaborates with behavioral economists.
