APPLYING BEHAVIORAL INSIGHTS TO PUBLIC POLICY

Policy-makers around the world have also begun to take seriously the insights offered by behavioral economics and psychology. A growing body of research shows a number of situations in which individuals act in ways that run counter to the predictions of standard economics. Our rationality, self-control and self-interest are all bounded in ways that have important implications for the way large organizations – governmental or private- design, implement and communicate policies.
In partnership with the world’s leading authority on behavioral insights, the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT), the Graduate School of Public Policy offers an Executive Education program on Applying Behavioral Insights to Public Policy on 9-12 October 2017.

Key Information

Date & Duration: 18-19 June 2018 (2 days)

Venue: Graduate School of Public Policy
Nazarbayev University
Block C3, room 1.010
53 Kabanbay batyr avenue
Astana, Kazakhstan 010000

Program Fees 167 000 per person
30 % discount for civil servants
20 % discount for organizations with 5 and more participants
*Two types of discount do not apply at the same time.

Contact: Executive Education Department
Graduate School of Public Policy
Tel: (+7) 7172 70 91 56
Email: execed.gspp@nu.edu.kz

Application deadline: June, 2018

 

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

Through the program, participants will:

  • Understand the heuristics and cognitive complications that people often rely on to make decisions
  • Develop the necessary skills to apply behavioral insights in policy development and service delivery
  • Learn the tools and frameworks to design policies intended to shape and influence behaviors
  • Gain a behaviorally-informed perspective on policy communications

 

TARGET AUDIENCE

This training is designed for policy analysts, researchers, managers, and other government professionals in policy and service delivery functions. It is also suitable for middle and senior level practitioners from non-profit organizations and service providers.
We believe that these insights transcend all the sectors of the economy. As long as participants are interested in changing behavior in a prosocial way, this course will be of use to them.

 

PROGRAM FOCUS

The four-day program will be delivered by the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) of UK. It offers a comprehensive introduction to the key ideas in behavioral insights, and equips policy officers with the foundations for formulating policies in a behaviorally compatible way. The course will involve a series of practical exercises and real-life cases of how policies and services can be designed using behavioral considerations. These learning-by doing experiences are complemented with reflections and theory to strengthen participants’ learning.
Through conceptual and practical exercises, participants will be exposed to the following topics:

  • Behavioral approaches to public policy
  • Getting people to behave
  • Applying the EAST and MINDSPACE frameworks
  • Better policy communications

 

SPEAKERS

Donald Low
Associate Dean (Research and Executive Education) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Mr Donald Low is Associate Dean (Research and Executive Education) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Besides leading the School’s executive education efforts, he also heads its case study unit. His research interests at the School include economics in public policy, inequality and social spending, behavioral economics, public finance, organizational change, and governance and politics in Singapore.
Prior to his current appointment, Donald served fifteen years in the Singapore government. He held various senior position, including the director of fiscal policy at the Ministry of Finance and the director of the Strategic Policy Office at the Public Service Division. He also established the Centre for Public Economics at the Civil Service College of Singapore to advance economics literacy in the Singapore government.
Donald is the editor of Behavioral Economics and Policy Design: Examples from Singapore (2011), a pioneering book which details how the Singapore government has applied ideas from behavioral economics alongside standard economics in the design of public policies. His most recent book, Hard Choices: Challenging the Singapore Consensus (2014), raises searching questions about the long-term viability of many aspects of governance in Singapore, and argues that a far-reaching and radical rethinking of the country’s policies and institutions is necessary, even if it weakens the very consensus that enabled Singapore to succeed in its first 50 years.

 

167000