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2026/2027  KAN-CFIAV2501U  Household Finance

English Title
Household Finance

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Autumn, Second Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for Finance, Economics & Mathematics
Programme MSc in Economics and Business Administration - Finance and Investments (FIN)
Course coordinator
  • Arna Olafsson - Department of Finance (FI)
Main academic disciplines
  • Finance
  • Economics
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 20-03-2026

Relevant links
Learning objectives
Students should come away from this course with the foundational knowledge that is common to most researchers within the field of household finance, along with a sense of where the active research frontier in the field lies. An important secondary objective of the course is to teach students the art of empirical research.
After having successfully participated in the course students ought to:
  • Understand the core questions and results in household finance research.
  • Understand the role of expectations in household finance and some key inputs in expectation formation.
  • Know the evolution of household finance as field and what drove the rise of the field.
  • Understand the role of behavioral biases in the financial choices of individuals and households.
  • Know typical data sources used in household finance research.
  • Know some of the stylized facts in household finance.
  • Know the key puzzles in household finance.
  • Understand what may drive the large gender gap in financial choices observed worldwide.
  • Understand the role of intra-household financial decision making on the financial choices of household.
  • Understand how financial technology may influence the financial choices of households and understand both the potential benefits and drawbacks for the financial wellbeing of households.
  • Be able to identify compelling research questions in household finance and empirical approaches to address these.
  • Be able to develop a high-quality research proposal suitable for thesis work.
Course prerequisites
A good knowledge of microeconomics, statistics, and finance is recommended. Students who do not have good knowledge of these topics but still wish to enroll, should be prepared to invest a bit of time early in the course to catch up.
Prerequisites for registering for the exam (activities during the teaching period)
Number of compulsory activities which must be approved (see section 13 of the Programme Regulations): 1
Oral presentations etc.
As a prerequisite for submitting the final course paper, each student must present their paper in class. The presentation is assessed on a pass/fail basis. Only students who receive a passing assessment for their presentation are eligible to submit the written course paper for grading.
Examination
Household Finance:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Students will work on a 10-pages course paper during the whole semester.
Assignment type Essay
Release of assignment The Assignment is released in Digital Exam (DE) at exam start
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure

Students will work on a 10-pages course paper during the whole semester and the final grade will be based on this (100%).

 

As a prerequisite for submitting the final course paper, each student must present their paper in class. The presentation is assessed on a pass/fail basis. Only students who receive a passing assessment for their presentation are eligible to submit the written course paper for grading.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

A sound understanding of personal finance is crucial for everyone aiming to make informed financial choices, avoid costly mistakes and achieve good financial health. It is also a highly sought-after skill by private and public institutions alike.

 

The course offers an overview of personal finance topics and issues, including financial planning, savings and spending, credit management, financial literacy, the role of expectations, beliefs and personal experiences in financial decision making, financial technology, financial intermediation, retirement planning, intra-household decision making, household heterogeneity in response to monetary policy changes, and gender differences in financial decision making.

 

The course provides students with a good understanding of the key topics within the household finance literature and will empower them with the tools to achieve their financial goals in life. In addition to learning the theory, students will actively participate in classroom discussions related to real-life cases, existing research and research ideas that will require them to apply their financial knowledge.

 

The course will also include guest lectures from industry, aimed at providing insights into real-world applications of the topics discussed in the course. Students should be able to base their master thesis on the final assignment.
Research-based teaching
CBS’ programmes and teaching are research-based. The following types of research-based knowledge and research-like activities are included in this course:
Research-based knowledge
  • Classic and basic theory
  • New theory
  • Teacher’s own research
  • Methodology
  • Models
Research-like activities
  • Development of research questions
  • Data collection
  • Analysis
  • Discussion, critical reflection, modelling
  • Activities that contribute to new or existing research projects
  • Students conduct independent research-like activities under supervision
Description of the teaching methods
Lectures, case discussion, in-class exercises.

Students are expected to participate actively in class discussions. Students are expected to spend a substantial amount of time preparing for the classes reading the assigned material for each class.
Feedback during the teaching period
Students are provided with continuous feedback to ensure they can understand the concepts covered in the course and learn how to apply them both to research projects and real-life situations/problems.

Feedback takes the form of discussions of real-world cases, existing research, and research ideas that students identify themselves based on their interests. This creates student-motivated discussions in which other fellow students and instructors provide valuable feedback to refine and improve research ideas that the students want to investigate in their written research project to be delivered at the end of the semester.

Students will receive additional personalized feedback on research ideas/research project to students in the form of office hours, online meetings, written feedback and in class discussions. The main idea is to provide students with as much feedback as possible throughout the course such that at the end of the semester students have a well-refined research idea that they can implement in a research project and later use a basis for their master thesis if they wish.
Student workload
Classes 36 hours
Preparation/Exam 170 hours
Expected literature

Main readings:

 

Agarwal, S., & Chua, Y.H. 2023. Household Financial Management. World Scientific Publishing

Gomes, Francisco, Michael Haliassos, and Tarun Ramadorai. 2021. "Household Finance." Journal of Economic Literature, 59 (3): 919–1000.

Beshears, John, James Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte Madrian. 2018. “Household finance.” Handbook of Behavioral Economics – Foundations and Applications 1.

Badarinza C, Campbell JY, Ramadorai T. International Comparative Household Finance. Annual Review of Economics. 2016;8. 

Guiso, Luigi, and Paolo Sodini. 2013 "Household Finance: An Emerging Field" Handbook Chapter

 

In addition, much of the material covered during the course will be in the form of research papers related to the topic under investigation at each time.
Last updated on 20-03-2026