Celebrating Success: Professor Darren Duxbury

Congratulations to Darren Duxbury for their paper, ‘Regulating High-Cost Short-Term Credit in the UK: Is there Scope for ‘Libertarian Paternalism’ Based Provisions?’ (co-authored by Dr Karim Aldohni of Newcastle Law School) which has recently been accepted for publication in Legal Studies.

Abstract: The regulatory protection of credit consumers, in general, is paramount due to the considerable use of credit, the imbalanced bargaining positions of the contracting parties and the adverse effect of over-indebtedness on individuals and society alike. These concerning factors are worsened in the case of High-Cost Short-Term Credit (HCSTC) consumers owing to their disadvantaged financial position and other recognised vulnerabilities. In this respect, the article argues that direct regulatory intervention, despite its importance, is not always the silver bullet. Through the analysis of the overhauling of the UK HCSTC regulatory framework, this article demonstrates the shortfalls of these regulatory changes. Accordingly, the article shifts the argument towards improving the decision-making mechanisms of HCSTC consumers, i.e. the role of ‘libertarian paternalism’ based interventions. By using a bespoke experimental survey, the article demonstrates the type of behavioural interventions that can assist in this endeavour and the regulator can possibly mandate.