| CODE | ECN5229 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Behavioural and Experimental Economics | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Economics | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This unit provides an overview of the key themes in this interdisciplinary subject. Students will be introduced to subjects such as judgment, rational choice, heuristics and biases, inter-temporal decision-making, fairness and social preferences, well being, framing and marketing. A fundamental aspect of this unit is the design of experiments to test behavioural theories. In this component, the unit will cover experiment design, analysis and write up in behavioural themes. This unit therefore provides students with an overview of the evolution, theory, methods, applications, findings and hands on experience of experimental methods in economics. The unit will be valuable to students with an interest in human behaviour and a desire to apply theories to real-world issues in the public and private sector in the field. Study-unit Aims: The aim of this study-unit is to introduce the subject of behavioural economics and experimental methods. It seeks to provide an understanding of how human beings make decisions, how such decisions can be influenced in a world where individuals are not perfectly rational. A key aim of the unit is to give students access to new sources of data and help them access and contribute to an enlarged set of economic propositions that can be validated, and new theoretical directions. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - synthesize insights from behavioral economic theory as to how decisions are made apply behavioural economic concepts to a range of applications; - conceptually model the determinants of well-being; - appraise experimental methods to study economic questions, critically evaluate diverse conventions in experiment design; - cite a range of studies that have assessed economic assumptions and theories; - test the validity or otherwise of such economic theories and critical assumptions. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - undertake research in behavioural economics; - reason, question and analyse information in the field of behavioural economics; - design, conduct and critique experiments; - intuit and critique key assumptions of economic theory; - search for regularities and unanticipated irregularities and find theoretical meaning; - assist in the design of policy; - understand how behaviour can be influenced. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Wilkinson, Nick, and Matthias Klaes. An introduction to behavioral economics. Macmillan International Higher Education, 2017. Readings: A pack of select readings for the course will be provided by the lecturers. - Ashraf, Nava, Colin F. Camerer, and George Loewenstein. "Adam Smith, behavioral economist." Journal of Economic Perspectives 19.3 (2005): 131-145. - Belot, M., James, J., & Spiteri, J. “Facilitating healthy dietary habits: An experiment with a low income population” European Economic Review, (2020) 129: 103550. - Briguglio, Marie, and Jonathan Spiteri. "Behavioural Economics in small states: a focus on social preferences." Handbook of Small States: Economic, Social and Environmental Issues (2018): 363. - Briguglio, Marie, et al. "Behavioral economics in film: Insights for educators." Journal of Behavioral Economics and Policy, 2020. - Briguglio, Marie. "Wellbeing: An Economics Perspective." Perspectives on Wellbeing. Brill Sense, 2019. 145-157. - Gode, Dhananjay K., and Shyam Sunder. "Allocative efficiency of markets with zero-intelligence traders: Market as a partial substitute for individual rationality." - Journal of political economy 101.1 (1993): 119-137. - Hamada, Koichi, and Shyam Sunder. "Why Do Economists Favor Free Trade but Politicians Don’t?" Yale University, mimeo, 2005. - Hayek, Friedrich August. "The use of knowledge in society." The American economic review 35.4 (1945): 519-530. - Kahneman, Daniel. "Maps of bounded rationality: Psychology for behavioral economics." American economic review 93.5 (2003): 1449-1475. - Rabin, Matthew. "A perspective on psychology and economics." European economic review 46.4-5 (2002): 657-685. - Smith Vernon, “An Experimental Study of Competitive Market Behaviour” The Journal of Political Economy 70.2 (1962): 111-137. - Sunder, Shyam. "Market for information: Experimental evidence." Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society (1992): 667-695. - Thaler, Richard H. "Behavioral economics: Past, present, and future." American Economic Review 106.7 (2016): 1577-1600. - Tversky, Amos, and Daniel Kahneman, eds. Choices, values, and frames. Cambridge University Press, 2000. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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