Introduction
Governments increasingly use financial and “payment in kind” incentives to encourage people to act in individually and socially beneficial ways, particularly in the context of health policy. Yet even when effective in changing behaviour, their use has attracted strong criticism for being coercive, and undermining of autonomy, personal responsibility and equity.
Our integrated programme of research will examine these criticisms from the perspectives of three disciplines – philosophy, psychology and economics – with the aim of evaluating whether financial incentives are an acceptable means by which to improve population health.
Central Question
When is it right to use financial incentives to improve health?
Goals
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To conduct a programme of research, starting from four case examples of current uses of financial incentives in the UK, that combines philosophy, psychology and economics in the analysis of the relationship between financial incentives, coercion, equity, autonomy and behaviour in order to evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of financial incentives to improve population health
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To train post-doctoral fellows and PhD students, with the aim of creating a cadre of interdisciplinary specialists to undertake innovative, substantive research and advise policy makers