By Mary Velan
Gov1
Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy is offering students a hands-on course that combines behavioral economics and local government problem solving. Throughout the semester, students will design behavioral interventions that could be used to solve a variety of local government challenges across the state. Students will work with representatives from 30 North Carolina jurisdictions to test the strategies.
Students will analyze local government data for behavioral patterns and then test the affect of different improvement strategies on these patterns. The goal of the course is to increase the effectiveness of different behavioral policies and programs to support local government performance and efficacy. Programs to be tested include informed consent, shared decision making and healthcare cost containment, Route Fifty reported.