Insights from behavioral economics have the potential to generate novel interventions and policies as well as inscrease the effectiveness of standard prescriptions. Here we discuss approaches to address addictions. These insights hinge on leveraging devision-making biases to help people overcome mistakes. Examples of these strategies include changing the presentation of information, restructuring incentives, and providing opportunities for precommitment. Rigorously testing different policy ideas is key to putting them into practice. Governments should consider a systematic approach to policy development using behavioral economics.
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David Ellerman (2005) studied this question.