International Law

Nudging and Franchise Regulation

Image via Wikipedia

It is very disappointing that Cass Sunstein's new book, Nudge, has nothing to add to the disclosure debate - whether more information about a franchise opportunity makes people more rational.

"They advocate the use of "choice architecture" by businesses or governments to influence choices in ways that encourage choosers to make decisions in their best interest. They call it "libertarian paternalism."

This involves utilizing "nudges" such as the wording of choices in ways that influence individual actions, designing default choices (in the absence of action) that do not penalize individuals, limiting choices to those that are more comprehensible, taxing detrimental choices, and providing full disclosure to better inform decision-makers.

In short, the goal is to foster better decisions (paternalism) while preserving choice (libertarianism). Think of parents fashioning choices for children in ways that lead to acceptable choices instead of commanding them to do something."

There is absolutely no empirical evidence for this oversweeping claim.  Very disappointing.

Full post as published by Misleading Advertising Law on December 03, 2008 (boomark / email).