Consumer protection

About: Consumer protection is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 9610 publications have been published within this topic receiving 110050 citations. The topic is also known as: consumer protection policy.

The Informational Role of Warranties and Private Disclosure about Product Quality

Abstract: The Informational Role of Warranties and Private Disclosure about Product Quality Author(s): Sanford J. Grossman Source: Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 24, No. 3, Consumer Protection Regulation: A Conference Sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Economy and the State (Dec., 1981), pp. 461-483 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/725273 Accessed: 27/08/2008 20:18

Libertarian Paternalism Is Not an Oxymoron

Abstract: The idea of libertarian paternalism might seem to be an oxymoron, but it is both possible and legitimate for private and public institutions to affect behavior while also respecting freedom of choice. Often people’s preferences are ill-formed, and their choices will inevitably be influenced by default rules, framing effects, and starting points. In these circumstances, a form of paternalism cannot be avoided. Equipped with an understanding of behavioral findings of bounded rationality and bounded self-control, libertarian paternalists should attempt to steer people’s choices in welfare-promoting directions without eliminating freedom of choice. It is also possible to show how a libertarian paternalist might select among the possible options and to assess how much choice to offer. Examples are given from many areas, including savings behavior, labor law, and consumer protection.

Regulation for Conservatives: Behavioral Economics and the Case for 'Asymmetric Paternalism'

Abstract: This paper examines the regulatory implications of behavioral economic insights. The central effect of behavioral economics in the legal literature to date has been to challenge the premise of formal economic theory that individuals understand their preferences and work to maximize these preferences. Behavioral economics has gathered increased attention in the economic analysis of law because of its demonstration that individual decisionmaking is prone to numerous biases and heuristics, and that as a result individuals may not act to realize their best interests. Part of the enthusiasm for behavioral economics in the legal literature has come from the apparent compatibility of the behavioral insights with proposals for paternalistic regulation. By pointing out some of the ways that human behavior falls short of perfect rationality, behavioral economics can potentially expand the scope of beneficial paternalistic policies that constrain individual choice. However, such policies should be implemented cautiously, given differences in opinion about what behaviors are irrational and concerns about costs imposed on people who are rational. In response to these concerns, we propose a principle for developing and evaluating regulatory policies that we term "asymmetric paternalism." Asymmetrically paternalistic regulations benefit those who would otherwise make poor decisions, but impose little or no costs on those who behave optimally. As such, they challenges both opponents and supporters of regulation by setting forth a disciplined set of criteria by which to judge the costs and benefits of regulatory proposals. The article explores the application of this principle to several specific sources of flawed decision making identified by behavioral economics in such diverse areas as retirement savings, consumer protection, and family law, and suggests examples of already existing regulations in these fields that seem to embody the principle of asymmetric paternalism.

Policy Entrepreneurship and Policy Change

Abstract: This article reviews the concept of policy entrepreneurship and its use in explaining policy change. Although the activities of policy entrepreneurs have received close attention in several studies, the concept of policy entrepreneurship is yet to be broadly integrated within analyses of policy change. To facilitate more integration of the concept, we here show how policy entrepreneurship can be understood within more encompassing theorizations of policy change: incrementalism, policy streams, institutionalism, punctuated equilibrium, and advocacy coalitions. Recent applications of policy entrepreneurship as a key explanation of policy change are presented as models for future work. Room exists for further conceptual development and empirical testing concerning policy entrepreneurship. Such work could be undertaken in studies of contemporary and historical policy change. Scholars of public policy often seek to explain how particular policy ideas catch on. The dynamics of policy change have been theorized and explored empirically from a range of perspectives during the past few decades. In these investigations, the role played by specific advocates of policy change has been frequently noted. Highly motivated individuals or small teams can do much to draw attention to policy problems, present innovative policy solutions, build coalitions of supporters, and secure legislative action. Of course, no political activity or policy initiative can go anywhere without many actors getting involved. The question then arises: By what means can advocates of policy change come to have broad influence? Several policy scholars have argued that such advocates achieve success because they exhibit a high degree of entrepreneurial flare. According to this line of argument, by closely observing the practices of advocates of policy change, we can come to appreciate how they perform a function in the policy process equivalent to entrepreneurs in the business context. Following an emerging convention, we here define such advocates of policy change as policy entrepreneurs. This article foregrounds policy entrepreneurship as an explanation of policy change. While the activities of policy entrepreneurs have received close attention in several studies (Crowley, 2003; Kingdon, 1984/1995; Mintrom, 2000; Roberts & King, 1991; Weissert, 1991), the concept of policy entrepreneurship is yet to be broadly integrated within studies of policy change. We contend that new applica

Complementary medicine in Europe.

Abstract: Complementary or unconventional treatments are used by many doctors and other therapists throughout Europe. The major forms are acupuncture, homoeopathy, manual therapy or manipulation, and phytotherapy or herbal medicine. The relative popularity of therapies differs between countries, but public demand is strong and growing. Regulation of practitioners varies widely: in most countries only registered health professionals may practice, but in the United Kingdom practice is virtually unregulated. Germany and some Scandinavian countries have intermediate systems. Legal reforms are in progress in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. European institutions are starting to influence the development of complementary medicine. Harmonisation of training and regulation of practitioners is the challenge for the future. To speak of “alternative” medicine is, as Pietroni has pointed out, like talking about foreigners—both terms are vaguely pejorative and refer to large, heterogeneous categories defined by what they are not rather than by what they are.1 The analogy is apt: the current worldwide trend away from suspicion and hostility between “orthodox” and “alternative” medicine towards investigation, understanding, and consumer protection can be compared with the process by which Europeans have learnt to view each other as partners rather than foreigners. This shift in attitude is evident in the BMA's recent publication, Complementary Medicine: New Approaches to Good Practice,2 and in the use of the term “complementary” rather than “alternative.” We welcome this new spirit and believe it will benefit patients. Even the term complementary medicine is not entirely satisfactory, lumping together as it does a wide range of methods with little in common except that they are outside the mainstream of medicine. The most accurate term is perhaps “unconventional therapeutic methods.” Consumer surveys consistently show positive public attitudes to complementary medicine, with about 60% of the public in the Netherlands3 and Belgium4 declaring themselves …