In 2008, the behavioral economist Richard Thaler and the legal scholar Cass Sunstein published a book in which they advocated a novel approach to public policy based on the notion of a “nudge.” Roughly speaking, a nudge is an intervention in the decisional context that steers people's decisions by acting on their cognitive biases. The notion of a nudge generated an intense debate across different disciplines and proved popular with many policy makers around the world. The present article reviews the debate and research on nudges by focusing on three main dimensions: (1) the exact definition of nudges; (2) the justification of nudge policies, with a focus on “libertarian paternalism”; and (3) the effectiveness of nudges, both over time and in comparison with standard policies.

中文翻译：

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轻推回顾：定义、理由、有效性

2008 年，行为经济学家 Richard Thaler 和法律学者 Cass Sunstein 出版了一本书，他们在书中提倡一种基于“助推”概念的新的公共政策方法。粗略地说，助推是在决策环境中的一种干预，它通过根据人们的认知偏见来引导人们的决策。轻推的概念在不同学科引发了激烈的争论，并在世界各地的许多政策制定者中广受欢迎。本文从三个主要方面回顾了关于助推的争论和研究：（1）助推的确切定义；(2) 轻推政策的合理性，重点是“自由主义家长制”；(3) 随着时间的推移和与标准政策相比，助推的有效性。