Behavioural Sludge: Where Have We Been, and Where Are We Going?

Abstract

Perhaps to the surprise of some, it has been nearly a decade since Richard Thaler coined the term ‘sludge’ to describe choice architectures that make choices harder. In that decade, behavioural policy researchers have dedicated much time to unpackaging the idea of sludge, investigating where it comes from, and developing tools to overcome it. Many more questions have now been asked than have been answered: what is sludge, where does it come from, how do we measure it, and might some sludge even be a good thing? This talk will provide an overview of the past decade of research into behavioural sludge. I will cover the various perspectives which have emerged around the topic, and outline some ideas for where behavioural sludge research may be heading.

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