Two years ago I attended a first conference organized by European Commission on Behavioural Economics and it was very useful and interesting. On Monday, 22 November 2010, again in Brussels, a second conference will take place: "Behavioural Economics, so What: Should Policy-Makers Care?".
The aim of the conference is to understand how behavioural economics could be used to influence public policy and regulatory design across the Commission, in a way that benefits EU consumers and citizens. During this conference results of the joint MARKT SANCO pilot behavioural study on retail investment services will be presented.
Key questions that are to be answered include:
- What behavioural economics can tell us about consumers that economic models or surveys can't?
- Are there relevant examples where the behavioural approach has significantly improved the effectiveness of policy measures?
- What are the main individual and external factors explaining decision-making in retail investment services?
- Are consumers well-informed and numerate, so to be able to make optimal choices?
- How did the US Government go about regulating some markets in the past, and how behavioural economics is going to change the old approach?