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on Nudge and Boosting |
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Issue of 2026–06–29
four papers chosen by Marco Novarese, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale |
| By: | Giovanni Di Bartolomeo; Silvia Fedeli; Stefano Papa |
| Abstract: | We test whether minimal, non-informative messages can nudge tax compliance beyond standard deterrence. In a within-subjects lab experiment, we randomize exposure to either a reminder that leaves audit probability unchanged or an informative warning tied to higher audit probability, and estimate effects on both the probability of evasion and the share of income evaded. A short non-informative reminder, holding incentives fixed, lowers the probability of evasion by about 16 percentage points, with no detectable effect on the evaded share among evaders; informative messages add at most marginal effects once audit probability is controlled for. |
| Keywords: | tax compliance, nudge, deterrence, audit, laboratory experiment |
| JEL: | H26 C91 D91 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ter:wpaper:00205 |
| By: | Shilei Luo; Song Yao; Dennis J. Zhang |
| Abstract: | Platform content interventions in recommendation systems are typically evaluated as static "nudges", ignoring that the systems adaptively learn from the resulting user behavior. We investigate this dynamic through a large-scale field experiment on a short-video platform. The experiment involves a "sleep reminder" campaign designed to reduce late-night usage. Paradoxically, the intervention increased late-night engagement by 14.75% and overall platform usage by 2.18%, and the effects persisted for weeks even after the experiment. We explain this through a forced-exploration mechanism, showing that by revealing high latent demand for the promoted content, the intervention triggers a recommendation policy update that routine user behavior would not produce. The data generated by the intervention induced the algorithm to update its post-campaign policy, reinforcing the very engagement loops the campaign aimed to mitigate. Our findings demonstrate that user-facing interventions can effectively retrain the underlying algorithm, triggering durable, system-wide shifts in content distribution that challenge standard evaluation metrics in platform governance and social responsibility initiatives. |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2606.08265 |
| By: | de Lint, Lotte Patricia (Wageningen University & Research); de Vries, Rachelle (Tilburg University); van Rookhuijzen, Wilhelmina Elisabeth Adriana Metje; Gort, Gerrit; de Vet, Emely |
| Abstract: | Supermarkets have a major influence on food purchases and thus represent a good starting point for shifting consumption toward plant-based options. In a field study within a Dutch discount supermarket chain (10 intervention, 10 control stores, 11 weeks), we evaluated the effect of two interventions that were each implemented during half of the weeks on animal- and plant-based purchasing. The Nudge (N) intervention reduced fresh meat visibility by moving promotional products from end-cap displays to regular shelf locations with standard-sized price tags, and modestly increased plant-based visibility through recipes and footstep cues. In the Nudge+ (N+) intervention condition, communication materials containing a reflective cue aimed at activating plant-based goals were additionally placed at store entrances and the fresh meat aisle. Results showed that within the fresh meat and meat replacement section, the ratio of plant- to animal-based protein sold by weight, as well as plant-based sales, did not change significantly under either intervention. However, animal-based protein sales by weight significantly decreased within this section (N:-4.75%, N+:-6.37%), with no significant difference between interventions. Outside this section, neither intervention had conclusive effects on (non-targeted) animal-based purchases, though trends suggested animal-based purchasing increased. No changes in total store revenue were detected. Most shoppers did not notice the interventions yet were positive or neutral when informed. A nudge that includes reducing meat's promotional visibility appears to be an effective strategy for decreasing animal-based purchasing in a real-world supermarket while preserving commercial performance and customer acceptance. |
| Date: | 2026–06–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:ez7y3_v2 |
| By: | Sofia Amaral; Kim Chaney; Victoria Kaiser; Nishith Prakash; Abhilasha Sahay |
| Abstract: | Police officers' discretionary handling of gender-based violence (GBV) complaints is a critical and largely neglected barrier to justice in developing countries. We collaborate with the Madhya Pradesh Police in India, the second largest state, to conduct a lab-in-the-field randomized experiment in which 323 male and female officers participate, and study the effect of randomly confronting officers with evidence of their biased handling of a fictitious GBV case on officer behavior and attitudes towards GBV. We find no statistically significant average effect, but sharply divergent and robust responses by officer gender. Confronted female officers prioritize the victim's statement by 23 percentage points more than controls, a 27 percent increase relative to the control mean. Male officers exhibit a backlash: they deprioritize the victim's statement, elevate the offender's statement, and on a computerized stereotyping task assign significantly more negative stereotypes to GBV victims one week after confrontation. We find no effects on deeper attitudinal outcomes such as beliefs in the truthfulness of rape complaints. A likely explanation for the heterogeneous response is the stark difference in baseline bias: 72 percent of female officers display only mild bias, while 51 percent of male officers are strongly biased. Because policing is male-dominated, the average female officer perceives a work environment more biased than her own, and women are thus willing to de-bias their case handling while men are not. Interventions targeting officer bias must account for these gender-differentiated responses to avoid unintended consequences. |
| Keywords: | prejudice confrontation, gender heterogeneity, gender-based violence, police bias, backlash, stereotype reduction, lab-in-the-field experiment, India |
| JEL: | J16 J45 K42 K14 C93 D91 O12 O15 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12717 |