AECO 25A24 - Behavioral economics

The goal of this course is to give students an overview of the main areas of behavioral economics. It will present a wide range of behavioral findings which have advanced our understanding of how economic agents form beliefs, act and interact. In particular, we will discuss how to incorporate to the traditional micro-economic framework some features of human nature such as altruism, emotions, biases perceptions of risk and time, biased interpretations of information and bounded rationality. We will study simple economic models, review empirical research, and devote particular attention to presenting and explaining experimental methods in economics. We will also discuss if and how behavioral economics can help us refine the design of economic policies.

Students taking this class must have a background in Microeconomics. The course is intended to be a first class of Behavioral economics, so it is not suitable for students who took such a class already.

Students will have a good knowledge and understanding of the main findings of behavioral economics;

Students will understand applied theoretical models and how to read simple empirical works;

Students will have a deep understanding of experimental methods in economics and will eb able to design simple experiments themselves.

One midterm exam and one final exam 90%

Student engagement during the semester (participation in class discussions, ability to ask questions, and class citizenship etc.) (10%)