Learning objectives
One of the main goals of the course is to provide students a wide knowledge of theories to explain individual behaviour, as well as hands-on experience on how to design and carry out their own experiments and analyze experimental data to test hypotheses. The tools provided in this course are transferable outside the standard research practice.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of microeconomic theory.
Course unit content
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the recent literature in behavioural economics, with a specific attention on how social preferences, norms and individual biases influence choices both at consumer and firm level. The lectures will explore how psychology and economics have been integrated to better understand how people respond to risk, make choices, and interact with others. The second part of the module will focus on strategic interactions and how people learn about their environment and the actions of others. The third module will review recent work on behavioural industrial organization and behavioural finance. The last lectures are dedicated to the use of nudges and choice architecture design to influence choices.
Full programme
After an introduction to the behavioural economics, the content is divided in 5 big areas of research più 1 methodological for data analysis:
1) Non-standard Preferences (reference dependent, choice under risk, choice bracketing)
2) Non-parametric statistical tests and power analysis
3) Social preferences and social norms
4) Strategic thinking
5) Markets
6) Choice architecture
Bibliography
Chaudhuri, A. (2021). Behavioural Economics and Experiments. Taylor & Francis. (AC)
Or, alternatively,
Cartwright, E. (2018). Behavioral Economics (3rd Edition). Taylor & Francis. (EC)
Older editions of these books will be fine as well. Slides, made available to students before class, are compulsory material. Additional readings to complement the book chapters, both compulsory and optional, will be communicated during classes. I will also prepare a comprehensive reading list of scientific articles that could, in principle, replace the books.
Teaching methods
Lectures will take the form of frontal lectures in which students will be exposed to theories, experimental evidence and managerial applications. Students will be often involved in classroom experiments played via the platform https://classex.de/ with immediate feedback and discussion of the choices made.
Assessment methods and criteria
Written exam
A written final exam will be used to evaluate the skills and the critical abilities developed by the students as regards to the theories and notion explained during lectures. The exam will last 90 minutes, and will be composed multiple choices and open questions. Students have the option to complete the two parts separately, with the multiple choices part at the end of the module. The written exam will count for 70% of the final grade (50% the open questions and 20% the multiple choices).
Idea Briefs
Students will write a short idea brief (a two pager) focusing on a research idea related to one of the topics discussed. The idea briefs should focus on the big picture questions that the research aims to answer, with a focus on the motivation and the experimental design used to explore it. The best ideas will be selected and voted by students during one of the lectures. The best idea, if feasible, will be implemented throughout an online experiment on Amazon Mechanical Turk. The idea briefs will count for 30% of the final grade.
Other information
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