Algorithmic Social Engineering

Megan T. Stevenson; ;

Algorithmic Social Engineering

Megan T. Stevenson

CO-AUTHORS Bo Cowgill

PUBLISHER

AEA Papers & Proceedings

DATE

2020-05

SSRN Website

UVA Law Faculty Affiliations

Megan T. Stevenson

Abstract

We examine the microeconomics of using algorithms to nudge decision-makers toward particular social outcomes. We refer to this as "algorithmic social engineering." In this article, we apply classic strategic communication models to this strategy. Manipulating predictions to express policy preferences strips the predictions of informational content and can lead decision-makers to ignore them. When social problems stem from decision-makers' objectives (rather than their information sets), algorithmic social engineering exhibits clear limitations. Our framework emphasizes separating preferences and predictions in designing algorithmic interventions. This distinction has implications for software architecture, organizational structure, and regulation.

SSRN Website

Citation

Bo Cowgill & Megan T. Stevenson, Algorithmic Social Engineering, 110 AEA Papers & Proceedings 96–100 (2020).

More in This Category

Do Investors Care About Municipal Debtors’ Access to Bankruptcy? Evidence from Bond Disclosures
G. Mitu Gulati

Richard C. Schragger
A key question in the academic and policy debates over the optimal architecture for sovereign debt has long been whether sovereigns should be given... MORE
Bibb Balancing: Regulatory Mismatches Under the Dormant Commerce Clause
Ruth Mason
Courts and commentators have long understood dormant Commerce Clause doctrine to contain two types of cases: discrimination and undue burdens. This... MORE
Does Cash Bail Deter Misconduct?
Megan T. Stevenson
Courts routinely use low cash bail as a financial incentive to ensure that released defendants appear in court and abstain from crime. This can... MORE

Green Bonds, Empty Promises
Quinn Curtis

G. Mitu Gulati
We examine the legal terms in the market for green bonds, debt instruments in which proceeds are earmarked, directly or indirectly, for projects with... MORE
On Rawlsian Contractualism and the Private Law
Kevin A. Kordana
Shifts in academic paradigms are rare. Still, it was not long ago that the values taken to govern the private law were thought to be distinct from... MORE
Anti-Bribery Law
Paul B. Stephan
This chapter describes the rise of transborder anti-bribery law in this century against the background of its twentieth-century origins. It focuses... MORE

Public Law and Economics
Michael D. Gilbert
This comprehensive textbook applies economic analysis to public law. The economic analysis of law has revolutionized legal scholarship and teaching... MORE
Truth Bounties: A Market Solution to Fake News
Michael D. Gilbert
False information causes harm, threatening individuals, groups, and society. Many people struggle to judge the veracity of the information around... MORE
Doing Business in Emerging markets – A Transactional Course
Paul B. Stephan

Richard N. Dean
This book is the only text devoted to the legal problems raised by foreign investment and business transactions in emerging markets. Its organization... MORE

Has China’s Labor Contract Law Curtailed Economic Growth?
J. H. Verkerke
As China reformed its economy during the past 44 years, it experienced the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history, with an annual... MORE
Markets, repugnance, and externalities
Kimberly D. Krawiec
This Article considers one aspect of the ongoing debate about the moral limits of markets—namely, the purported harmful effects of market... MORE
Pretrial Detention and the Value of Liberty
Megan T. Stevenson
How dangerous must a person be to justify the state in locking her up for the greater good? The bail reform movement, which aspires to limit pretrial... MORE

Response to Philip Zelikow: Confiscating Russian Assets and the Law
Paul B. Stephan
My colleague Philip Zelikow has written a thoughtful response to my recent post on this site. I endorse much of what he says. In that post, I had... MORE
No, Biden can’t just sell off seized Russian yachts and central bank assets to help aid Ukraine – international law and the US Constitution forbid it
Paul B. Stephan
The Biden administration wants to sell off the yachts, homes and other luxury assets it has seized from Russian oligarchs and use those proceeds to... MORE
The Law and Economics of Animus
Andrew Hayashi
People sometimes want to harm other people. This truism points to a blind spot in law and economics scholarship, which generally assumes that people... MORE

No Money Allowed
Kimberly D. Krawiec
The sale of organs and gametes, the use of commercial surrogates, and trade in blood and plasma are examples of what have been termed "contested... MORE
Information and Deterrence in Shareholder Derivative Litigation
Quinn Curtis
Shareholder derivative litigation is often critiqued as costly to firms Special litigation committees have been devised as a means to dismiss low-... MORE
Who Benefits from Bans on Employers’ Credit Checks?
Rich Hynes
Several US states ban employers’ use of credit reports in hiring decisions. This paper evaluates whether these bans help financially distressed... MORE

Scholarship

Algorithmic Social Engineering

UVA Law Faculty Affiliations

Abstract

Citation

More in This Category

ABOUT

APPLY

ACADEMICS

SERVICES

PEOPLE

CAREERS

NEWS & EVENTS

COMMUNITY