We are pleased to announce that our paper: « On Apparent Irrational Behaviors : Interacting Structures and the Mind», will be presented at the Workshop on Behavioural Economics: Science, Philosophy, and Policy-Making, October 17-18, 2013, Trento (Italy). Our paper « An Economic Approach to the Self : The Dual Agent» will be presented during the poster session.

BEHAVIOURAL ECONOMICS: SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND POLICY-MAKING

Behavioural economists over the last decade have promoted a new approach to policy-making, informed by the discovery that individual decisions can be heavily influenced by psychological biases and irrelevant contextual factors. This approach aims at improving individual and collective outcomes at low cost, without interfering with the values and freedoms of individual citizens. Although “libertarian-paternalistic” policies have been endorsed by regulators in several countries, a number of critics argue that they lack sound theoretical and philosophical foundations.

The Bruno Kessler Foundation, in collaboration with the University of Trento, is organizing an interdisciplinary conference devoted to assess the scientific basis, philosophical presuppositions, and policy applications of behavioural economics. The conference will bring together economists, psychologists, political scientists, philosophers, and policy-makers interested in these topics.