Foundation for effective consumer policy
ConPolicy - the Institute for Consumer Policy - guides and advises leaders charged with the development of an effective consumer policy. We assess the effectiveness of consumer policy instruments, provide facts and international expertise and show businesses how to act in the best interest of their customers.
By means of our research and consulting services, our Policy Briefs, and information about recent developments in the realm of international consumer policy, we provide the components needed for a quality policy for consumers. What distinguishes us is our focus on cross-cutting consumer issues, our evidence-based approach and our international expertise.
ConPolicy’s Current Projects and Publications
06/25/10
ConPolicy Director accepts teaching assignment
The newly founded Quadriga Hochschule Berlin trains communication managers. ConPolicy Director, Dr Christian Thorun, will teach a course on “Foundations and Principles of Politics”. Students will be introduced to the academic discipline of political science and theory, political decision-making and the main institutions and players in the German political system.
03/10/10
Policy Brief: Financial regulatory reform - Lessons from the international debate
Financial regulatory reform is at the top of the agenda for the United States legislature. One of the most controversial issues being debated is the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). Its mission would be to protect consumers from dangerous financial products and practices. The German media has largely ignored this debate. This policy brief highlights the lessons that can be learned from the US and British debate on financial regulatory reform. It concludes: There are many similarities in the political controversies in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. In all countries it is increasingly recognized that consumer protection, financial safety, and the soundness of financial institutions are related issues. Hence, consumer protection should find its place in the financial regulatory framework. While this policy brief cannot lay out in detail how such an institutionalization should be pursued, it makes clear that much can be learned by systematically analysing the practical experience of other nations. (Download German version .pdf)
02/17/10
Policy Brief: Consumer information - Limits and requirements
Consumer policy relies on information to encourage healthy life-styles or to improve the quality of consumer investments. Given the growing information-overload felt by consumers, however, it becomes necessary to ask in what circumstances is consumer information an adequate policy response? How should that information be applied so that it delivers the intended results? This policy brief concludes: Consumer information is no panacea. Its application always brings with it costs and its effectiveness critically depends on how it is used. The quality of information, the way in which the information is presented and whether consumers are supported in processing the information - e.g. by means of internet calculators - are vital factors that determine the effectiveness of an information-based policy response. (Download German version .pdf)
02/08/10
Policy Brief: Consumer Policy Research - What behavioural economics can learn from consumer policy
Over the last few years, insights into behavioural economics have gained much public attention. With the publication of their international bestseller Nudge, US academics Thaler and Sunstein have inspired a debate about whether and how consumers should be nudged into more responsible consumption patterns. While behavioural economics questions fundamental assumptions of classical economics, its insights are familiar to consumer policy-makers. For years they have focused on the actual rather than assumed behaviour of consumers. Hence this policy brief concludes: Consumer policy should seek an intensive exchange with behavioural economics. Such an exchange would be beneficial for both. Consumer policy would be more theoretically founded, while economic research would gain access to the every-day experiences of consumers. The common objective should be to better understand the preconditions necessary for consumers to consume responsibly. (Download German version .pdf)
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