CECO 26A01 - Behavioral economics

Economic theory is based on the idea that economic agents are rational and investigates the implications of such rational behavior. Empirical research revealed discrepancies between derived "optimal" strategies, and the actual behavior of decision makers. Based on these empirical findings, behavioral economics questions the assumption of perfect rationality and uses insights from psychology to improve theoretical and empirical predictions of standard economic theory. This course will provide students with an introduction to the principles and methods of Behavioral Economics, and how behavioral principles have been applied to economic problems both in microeconomics and macroeconomics.

Behavioral economics does not start from scratch, but typically builds on standard economic theory and uses insights from psychology to decide which assumptions need to be revised to make the models more realistic.

For every session, we will first introduce the standard theory, point out its shortcomings, and then we will introduce behavioral models.

Core Economics or any Econ 101

Cours séminaires

Examen écrit

2h/semaine