BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS IN STATE REGULATION OF BUSINESS

Abstract

The main principles of behavioral economics are theses that people often make irrational decisions; emotions and social factors affect economic decisions; the conditions in which the decision is made is of great importance and influence. The article talks about the use of behavioral economics in the state regulation of business, which is a rather little researched scientific problem. The author is sure that the state in business regulation is a kind of architect of choice. By changing the design of the environment, the state is able to change the context. The need for the state to use «elements» of behavioral economics in business regulation is due to the following factors: limited rationality and systematic errors: representatives of the business sector do not have complete, comprehensive information about the context of choice, the probability of various alternative options and their possible consequences; the significant influence of the context: the presence of certain established norms of behavior for the business sector, which are its formal «rules of the game»; ability to influence choice design: the way options are presented determines it, while the style, form and sequence in which the different options are presented significantly influence people's choices. An important issue of interaction between the state and the business sector is the choice of an effective and appropriate toolkit, which is considered as a set of means of both direct and indirect influence, which the state uses to regulate the activities of enterprises and organizations. According to the author, the use of the principles of behavioral economics can become a powerful impetus on the way to achieving effective interaction between the state and business sectors of the economy. The toolkit of state regulation of business from the point of view of behavioral principles may include: simplification of administrative procedures; stimulation of the desired behavior due to the establishment of automatic parameters and recognition by the state of social norms of business behavior. Despite the significant potential, the application of behavioral economics in business regulation has its limitations: opportunities for manipulation, availability of complete data on the behavior of the business sector, high cost of implementation of «behavioral interventions».