040296 UK Behavioral Economics and Policy (BA) (2017W)

This course is designed for advanced bachelor students. Intermediate knowledge of Microeconomics and basic knowledge of Econometrics is recommended.

The course aims to make students familiar with the most relevant topics of psychology and economics (behavioral economics). Additionally, it seeks to make students familiar with state-of-art applications of these theories, and policy recommendations derived from these applications.

Contents:

The course introduces the students to the most relevant topics of psychology and economics (behavioral economics). After following this course, the students will be familiar with relevant theories in the field such as prospect theory, hyperbolic discounting, and inequity aversion, inattention. Throughout the course, we will study how, in light of these theories, governments and organizations should approach problems such as market regulation, savings, poverty, retirement accounts, employee motivation or taxation.

Method:

The course is divided in four modules. In each of the modules a theory of behavioral economics is presented along with its respective empirical regularities. The applications of each of these theories are discussed along with their policy implications and recommendations.