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enrollment, employees have been automatically enrolled and
participation rates have increased significantly. Between 2010
and 2014, the number of companies with an 80 per cent partici-
pation rate or higher rose by 14 per cent.
Elsewhere, the UK government sought to apply choice archi-
tecture to the decision its citizens made regarding organ-donor
registration. The idea was that tweaks to processes and language
— informed by behavioural science and tested for effectiveness
— could significantly improve participation rates. This work was
spearheaded by the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), the
world’s first behavioural insights unit within government. The
most successful message out of those tested was the following:
“If you needed an organ transplant, would you have one?” By
invoking the concept of reciprocity, this simple question encour-
ages potential donors to think a bit more about the decision.
The result: BIT estimated that it would be able to add 100,
names to the donor registry annually.
The Canadian province of Ontario has also succeeded in
increasing organ-donor registration rates by harnessing two
simple behavioural insights to design nudges: First, as seen in
the UK, a message that evokes empathy was used to get poten-
tial donors to think a bit more about the decision; and second,
simplifying the application form itself increased the likelihood
that this greater thought would be converted to action.
Nudge Units Worldwide
FIGURE ONE
SOURCE: BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS TEAM, 2016. WE THANK OWAIN SERVICE FOR PERMISSION TO ADAPT AND REUSE THE MAP.SOURCE: BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS TEAM, 2016. WE THANK OWAIN SERVICE FOR PERMISSION TO ADAPT AND REUSE THE MAP.
Canada:
Federal &
Provincial
teams
UK: The Behavioural Insights
Team (BIT) and nudge units in
14 departments
Netherlands: Ministry
of Economic Affairs and
Ministry of Infrastructure
& the Environment
Norway:
GreeNudge
Finland: Prime
Minister’s Office
Denmark: The Danish
Nudging Network
Germany:
Chancellor’s Office
Moldova: UNDP/BIT
collaboration
Italy: PM’s Committee
of Experts
France: OECD
Behavioural
Science
Coordination
European
Commission:
Behavioural Science
and Foresight Team
NYC: BIT
North America
& ideas
Chicago: Chicago
Nudge Unit
U.S.: White House Social and
Behavioural Sciences Team
World Bank: Global
INsights Initiative (GINI)
Mexico:
President’s
Office
Guatemala:
Guatemalan Tax
Administration
Jamaica: Finance
Ministry (UNDP/BIT) Rio de Janeiro:
Mayor’s Office
India: New BE unit
Singapore: Prime
Minister’s Office &
Ministry of Manpower
Sydney: BIT
Australia &
Behavioural
Insights Unit, New
South Wales
Australia:
Behavioural
Economics Team
of Australian
Government (BETA)
Melbourne:
Department of
Premier and
Cabinet, Victoria
Since the inception of the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team in 2010, governments around the world have followed suit, creating their own
behavioural units dedicated to better understanding how policies and programs can be improved with the application of behavioural
science. Currently, more than 50 such behavioural units have been established in local or federal governments around the world.