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Published
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University of Vaasa
Behavioral Economics
5 cr
The focus of this course will be deviations of economic behavior from those assumed or prescribed by the standard economic models. More specifically, the main theme will be departures from, and alternatives to, the traditional assumptions that people are rational and self-interested.
The course will begin with a discussion of alternative models of decision making, particularly, under risk and uncertainty. Within this topic, a particular emphasis will be on reference dependence in decision making. Then, deviations from the assumption of self-interest, i.e. social preferences, will be examined. The next topic will be incentives and motivation theories. After this, the course will proceed with an investigation of how people use mental shortcuts and how these may cause systematic mistakes when making economic decisions. This will be followed by a discussion of the inconsistencies of individuals in how they evaluate rewards (or costs) scheduled at different dates. Lastly, using insights from the topics discussed, different ways of altering individual behavior in desired directions without limiting options, significantly changing economic incentives or entailing significant costs to the economic planner / designer will be reviewed.
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Additional information:
Fields
Social sciences
Scope
5 cr
Code
KANS2043
Organiser
University of Vaasa
Contact details
avoinyo@uwasa.fi
029 449 8004