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Free to Fail? Paternalistic Preferences in the United States

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines paternalistic preferences in two large-scale experiments with participants from the US general population. Participants decide whether to intervene when a stakeholder is about to make a choice misaligned with the stakeholder’s own preferences. Willingness to intervene depends on which intervention is available: only a minority implements a hard intervention, which restricts the stakeholder’s choice set, while a majority implements a soft intervention that provides information without restricting choice. A substantial share of participants does not defer to the stakeholder’s stated preferences when evaluating welfare. Our framework estimates that about half are welfarists and a third libertarian paternalists.

Source: The Economic Journal

DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueag136

Authors: Björn Bartling, Alexander W Cappelen, Henning Hermes, Marit Skivenes, Bertil Tungodden

Institutions: University of Zurich, Norwegian School of Economics, Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, University of Bergen

Language: English

Topic: Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,463