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Using Insights From Behavioral Economics to Strengthen Disaster Preparedness and Response

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2016

Sebastian Linnemayr Open the ORCID record for Sebastian Linnemayr [Opens in a new window] ,
Claire O’Hanlon Open the ORCID record for Claire O’Hanlon [Opens in a new window] ,
Lori Uscher-Pines ,
Kristin Van Abel  and
Christopher Nelson
Sebastian Linnemayr
Affiliation:
RAND CorporationSanta Monica, California
Claire O’Hanlon
Affiliation:
RAND CorporationSanta Monica, California Pardee RAND Graduate SchoolSanta Monica, California.
Lori Uscher-Pines
Affiliation:
RAND CorporationSanta Monica, California
Kristin Van Abel
Affiliation:
RAND CorporationSanta Monica, California
Christopher Nelson*
Affiliation:
RAND CorporationSanta Monica, California
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Chris Nelson, PhD, RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90407 (e-mail: cnelson@rand.org).
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Abstract

Behavioral economics is based on the idea that individuals’ decisions are affected by systematic and predictable cognitive biases and that these same biases can be leveraged to change behavior and improve decision-making. Insights from behavioral economics have been used to encourage a range of desired behaviors but have rarely been used in disaster preparedness and response, though traditional efforts by public health practitioners have failed to increase adoption of key preparedness behaviors. In this work, we aim to show how some of the key concepts in the behavioral economics literature are applicable to behaviors related to disaster preparedness and response, and we present ideas for behavioral economics-based interventions that we vetted with public health officials. Two of the best-received interventions were applications of social norms approaches, which leverage social influence bias, and commitment devices, which leverage present bias and loss aversion. Although the current evidence base for the applications of concepts from behavioral economics in disaster preparedness and response is weak, behavioral economics has achieved positive results in similar decision-making contexts. The low cost and potentially high impact of behavioral economics-based interventions warrant further investigation and testing. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;page 1 of 7)

Keywords

behavioral economicsdisastersdisaster planningemergencies
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 10 , Issue 5 , October 2016 , pp. 768 - 774
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2016 

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