理查德•塞勒获2017年诺贝尔经济学奖

Richard Thaler, the man behind “nudge” economics, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on incorporating insights from psychology into economic theory and policymaking.

“轻推”经济学背后的人物理查德•塞勒(Richard Thaler)被授予2017年诺贝尔经济学奖(Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences)，因为他将心理学的洞察力融入经济理论和政策制定。

The award, which is officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in memory of Alfred Nobel, was awarded to Prof Thaler for his “contribution to behavioural economics”, the prize committee said.

诺贝尔评奖委员会表示，把今年的奖项——正式名称是“纪念阿尔弗雷德•诺贝尔瑞典银行经济学奖”(Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel)——授予塞勒教授是为了表彰他“对行为经济学作出的贡献”。

The US economist co-wrote the global bestseller Nudge, which explores issues such as how people can be given incentives to make more rational decisions.

这名美国经济学家与人合著了全球畅销书《轻推》(Nudge)，其中探讨的课题包括如何给予人们激励才能让他们作出更为理性的决策。

He is currently professor of behavioural science and economics at the University of Chicago.

他目前是芝加哥大学(University of Chicago)行为科学与经济学教授。

Prof Thaler is the 79th recipient of the Nobel in economics, which was announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on Monday morning. He will receive a prize of SKr9m ($1.1m).

瑞典皇家科学院(Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences)周一在斯德哥尔摩宣布的这一决定，使塞勒教授成为第79位诺贝尔经济学奖获得者。他将获得900万瑞典克朗(合110万美元)的奖金。

Economists have traditionally assumed that individuals behave rationally, making decisions on the basis of all the information readily available to them. But Prof Thaler’s work has incorporated insights from psychology to help explain why people behave in ways that are not fully rational — for example, struggling to save for retirement and placing a higher value on items or money they already have than on those they might buy or win.

传统上，经济学家们假设个人的行为是理性的，根据自己可以轻易获得的所有信息做出决策。但塞勒教授的研究融入了来自心理学的洞见，以帮助解释为什么人们的行为方式不完全理性，例如难以为退休后的人生阶段储蓄，以及认为自己已经拥有的物品或金钱(而不是自己可能购买或赢得的东西)具有更高价值。

After the prize was announced, Prof Thaler, who is a keen golfer, said he would try to spend the money “as irrationally as possible”. 在这一奖项宣布后，爱打高尔夫的塞勒教授表示，他将 “尽量非理性地”花掉这笔奖金。

The insights from his work were summarised in Nudge, which was co-authored with Cass Sunstein, a professor at Harvard. Prof Sunstein quipped on Twitter that the decision to award the prize to Prof Thaler was “an unboundedly rational choice for the Nobel”.

他与哈佛大学(Harvard)教授凯斯•桑斯坦(Cass Sunstein)合著的《轻推》总结了来自他的研究工作的深刻见解。桑斯坦教授在Twitter上表示，把经济学奖授予塞勒教授是“诺贝尔奖作出的无限理性的选择”。

The prize committee said Prof Thaler’s work had inspired many other researchers and transformed the field of behavioural economics, which his work spawned, from being “a fringe and controversial” field to a “mainstream area”.

评奖委员会表示，塞勒教授的工作启发了其他许多研究人员，并且彻底转变了他的研究所催生的行为经济学领域，使其从“一个边缘和有争议的”领域变成一个“主流领域”。

Prof Thaler’s conclusions have been influential in shaping economic policies in recent years. He served as an adviser to President Barack Obama and to the team that advised the UK government on incorporating ideas from behavioural economics into policy design. Prof Thaler has also advised the Swedish government on improving the design of its pensions system.

塞勒教授得出的结论近年影响了经济政策的形成。他曾担任巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)总统的顾问，也曾向英国政府的顾问团队提供咨询，将行为经济学的理念纳入政策设计。塞勒教授还曾就改进养老金制度的设计向瑞典政府提供建议。

One of Prof Thaler’s best-known pieces of work highlighted the phenomenon of “mental accounting”, that is, people spend money differently if it is labelled for one specific purpose rather than another.

塞勒教授最知名的研究成果之一是指出了“心理会计”现象，也就是说，如果一笔钱被标记为某个特定目的，人们会以不同的方式花掉它。

The implication of this insight is that policymakers can nudge people towards spending money on specific items by providing them with money labelled for a specific purpose, even if there is no restriction in practice on how the money is spent. In the UK, for example, research has shown that pensioners spent more on heating their homes when they were given a sum of money described as a “winter fuel payment”, even though they were free to spend it however they wished.

这种观点意味着，政策制定者可以通过发放贴上特定目的标签的补贴，来劝说人们把钱花在特定项目上，即使实际上对于人们如何花钱并无限制。例如，英国的研究表明，养老金领取者在获得一笔被称为“冬季燃料支出”的款项后，会更加舍得加大居所供暖支出，即便他们可以随心所欲地自由支配这笔钱。