Changing People’s Preferences by the State and the Law
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Ariel Porat
Abstract
In standard economic models, two basic assumptions are made: the first, that actors are rational, and the second, that actors’ preferences are a given and exogenously determined. Behavioral economics — followed by behavioral law and economics — has questioned the first assumption. This Article challenges the second one, arguing that in many instances, social welfare should be enhanced not by maximizing satisfaction of existing preferences but by changing the preferences themselves. The Article identifies seven categories of cases where the traditional objections to intentional preference change by the state and the law lose force and argues that in these cases, such a change warrants serious consideration. It then proposes four different modes of intervention in people’s preferences, varying in intensity, on the one hand, and in the identity of their addressees, on the other, and explains the relative advantages and disadvantages of each form of intervention.
© 2021 by Theoretical Inquiries in Law
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Addictive Law
- Framed by the Law: Experimental Evidence for the Effects of the Salience of the Law on Preferences
- Moral Norms, Adaptive Preferences, and Hedonic Psychology
- What’s So Special About General Verdicts? Questioning the Preferred Verdict Format in American Criminal Jury Trials
- Preference Change and Behavioral Ethics: Can States Create Ethical People?
- The Data Privacy Law of Brexit: Theories of Preference Change
- Do Good Citizens Need Good Laws? Economics and the Expressive Function
- Does the Law Change Preferences?
- Changing People’s Preferences by the State and the Law
- Preferences and Compliance with International Law
- Anti-preferences
- Influencing the Preferences of Children through Legal Impacts on Parenting Style
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Addictive Law
- Framed by the Law: Experimental Evidence for the Effects of the Salience of the Law on Preferences
- Moral Norms, Adaptive Preferences, and Hedonic Psychology
- What’s So Special About General Verdicts? Questioning the Preferred Verdict Format in American Criminal Jury Trials
- Preference Change and Behavioral Ethics: Can States Create Ethical People?
- The Data Privacy Law of Brexit: Theories of Preference Change
- Do Good Citizens Need Good Laws? Economics and the Expressive Function
- Does the Law Change Preferences?
- Changing People’s Preferences by the State and the Law
- Preferences and Compliance with International Law
- Anti-preferences
- Influencing the Preferences of Children through Legal Impacts on Parenting Style
