BEHAVIORAL ECONOMY APPLIED TO COVID-19: AN ANALYTICAL EXERCISE ON THE USE OF "NUDGES" IN PUBLIC POLICY

Abstract

Any global health crisis requires large-scale behavioral changes on individuals, however, a study on their behavior is necessary. The main objective of this work is to address, through a theoretical-reflective analysis, how Behavioral Economics and the use of nudges contributed to the implementation of public policies during the Covid-19 pandemic. The analysis pointed out that Behavioral Economics emerged around the 1970s as a new branch of psychology and was termed behavioral decision research. In it, people seek help to improve judgment and decision-making capacity, and public policies become the most appropriate way for this purpose. In this way, the use of Behavioral Economics by public agents who manage public policies can generate a more efficient State. Given the context of a pandemic, it is known that several measures have been adopted by public entities to contain the spread of the virus, most of them imposing and unilateral. However, there was also the insertion of regulatory and “non-authority” instruments, among them, the nudges. Its use is nothing more than an interventional measure, based on persuasion, induction, and social persuasion. Nudges do not constrain or force anyone into action, nor do they reduce freedom of choice or make rational or emotional appeals. They only contribute by facilitating the control of the desired behavior.