title: Government interventions to aid choice: Help to self-help or paternalism?
abstract: A random sample of Danish respondents was asked in which aspects of every-day life they find it more difficult to adhere to behavioural patterns that they believe are best for them and their family. Individuals report high degrees of lack of self-control in specific areas of everyday life, suggesting that individuals are not consistently exhibiting utility optimising behaviour, a finding that accords with behavioural economics and the expected prevalence of irrational behaviour. We observe greater self-perceived self-control problems amongst individuals from the lower economic strata. Thus, to the extent that self-control relates to environmental factors, there is justification for introducing government interventions targeting such factors to improve equity in health and to increase utility levels amongst those with lower incomes and lower levels of education. Further, the public's preferences for a range of government interventions targeting different facets of life-style were elicited. Individuals who were the target of interventions were less supportive of these interventions. Individuals in the target group whose self-perceived self-control was low tended to be more supportive, but still less so than those who were not targeted. Since support was shown to come mainly from those not targeted by the intervention, and especially from those who feel in control of their lives, our results indicate that the interventions cannot be justified on the grounds of libertarianism (help to self-help).
authors.affiliation: Department of Business and Economics & Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark. Electronic address: dgh@sam.sdu.dk.
authors.forename: Dorte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gyrd-Hansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Business and Economics & Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
authors.forename: Trine
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kjær
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006076:Government; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026706:Paternalism; D012648:Self Care; D000068356:Self-Control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Government interventions; Inconsistent time preferences; Life-style; Nudging; Paternalism; Self-control