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2023/2024  KAN-CPSYO2001U  Behavioral Economics II

English Title
Behavioral Economics II

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc/MSc in Business Administration and Psychology, MSc
Course coordinator
  • Efthymios Altsitsiadis - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Business psychology
  • Economics
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 21-11-2023

Relevant links
Learning objectives
The overall purpose of the course is to provide students with insights on and understanding of key elements in behavioral economics, including how psychology is explicitly involved in economic and business-economic models to establish more robust explanations, predictions, and tools. At the end of the course, students should be able to:
  • Explain key theories in the field of behavioral economics / economic-psychological, and how these can be applied in one or more areas of business economics.
  • Demonstrate how different types of decision problems can be analyzed from an behavioral / psychological perspective
  • Take on real-life problems and study the application of behavioral economics insights and methods that help regulators design behavior change interventions
Examination
Adfærdsøkonomi:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam on CBS' computers
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Aids Limited aids, see the list below:
The student is allowed to bring
  • USB key for uploading of notes, books and compendiums in a non-executable format (no applications, application fragments, IT tools etc.)
  • Any calculator
  • In Paper format: Books (including translation dictionaries), compendiums and notes
The student will have access to
  • Access to Canvas
  • Advanced IT application package
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
The number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination may warrant that it most appropriately be held as an oral examination. The programme office will inform the students if the make-up examination/re-take examination instead is held as an oral examination including a second examiner or external examiner.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

The course aims to provide students with a broad insight into the many areas where psychology is explicitly involved in economic theory. The course is primarily based on behavioral economics research, which in the wake of the collaboration between Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky has taken an increasingly central position in economic theory and practice. Behavioral economics research covers, among other things, decision rationality and heuristics, prospect theory, intertemporal choices, dual process theory, etc. The course will introduce these areas and review how behavioral economics theory has been and can be applied in a number of key areas such as business, organization, sustainability, user experience and policy. Further applications of the behavioral and experimental toolkit to social issues will be presented.

 

The first block of lectures will introduce the field of behavioral economics and will examine its roots in applied economics, rationality, and behavioral theory. The second block will focus more on practical issues within the curriculum of behavioral economics. The purpose there is to provide space for analyzing behavioral methods and approaches to tackle social and business issues, to explore the material from various angles and to challenge key hypotheses based on the syllabus.

 
Description of the teaching methods
The course consists of 12 on campus lectures with 1-2 lectures delivered per week. The first block of lectures will introduce the field of behavioral economics and will examine its roots in applied economics, rationality, and behavioral theory. The second block will focus more on practical issues within the curriculum of behavioral economics. The purpose there is to provide space for analysing behavioral methods and approaches to tackle social and business issues, to explore the material from diverse angles and to challenge key hypotheses based on the syllabus. A variety of methods will be used, covering group discussions, mini-cases and group class exercises to traditional scientific paper analyses.
Feedback during the teaching period
The course will provide space for feedback and dialogue throughout, ie. for discussions in plenary for lectures or for personal inquiries during breaks, after the end of the lecture, or for inquiries per mail. In addition, the course includes both exercises and active student participation in several lectures, where there will be ample opportunity to ask questions, discuss relevant topics, etc.
Student workload
Preparation 114 hours
Participation in the lecture series 36 hours
Preparation for the exams 56 hours
Further Information

Contact information and details

 

For any issue/question about a specific lecture you can reach out to the class lecturer.

For any other inquiry do reach out to the course coordinator. 

 

Lecturer Alice Pizzo: api.msc@cbs.dk

Lecturer Jan M. Bauer: jmb.msc@cbs.dk

Course coordinator Efthymios Altsitsiadis: ea.msc@cbs.dk
Expected literature

Lecture 1: Introduction to Behavioral Economics

 

Camerer, C. (1999), Behavioral Economics: Reunifying psychology and economics, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 96(19): 10575-10577.

 

Bruni, L. & Sugden, R. (2007). The road not taken: how psychology was removed from economics, and how it might be brought back. The Economic Journal, 117 (516): 146-173.

 

Becker, GS (1993). The Economic Way of Looking at Behavior. Journal of Political Economy: 385-409.

 

Chapter I - Book: Charles A. Holt, Markets, Games, & Strategic Behavior. Pearson Higher Education, 2007.

 

 

Lecture 2: Decision making in Behavioral Economics

 

Kahneman, D., & Frederick, S. (2005). A model of heuristic judgment. Cambridge University Press.

 

Kahneman, D. (2003). Maps of bounded rationality: Psychology for behavioral economics. American economic review, 93(5), 1449-1475.

 

LeBoeuf, RA, & Shafir, EB (2005). Decision Making. Cambridge University Press.

 

Harrison, GW, & List, JA (2004). Field experiments. Journal of economic literature, 42(4), 1009-1055.

 

 

Lecture 3: Nudging in Choice Architecture

 

Sunstein, CR, & Thaler, RH (2003). Libertarian paternalism is not an oxymoron. The University of Chicago Law Review, 1159-1202.

 

Sunstein, C. (2017). Nudges that fail. Behavioral Public Policy, 1(1), 4-25.

 

Carlsson, F., Gravert, C., Johansson-Stenman, O., & Kurz, V. (2021). The use of green nudges as an environmental policy instrument. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 15(2), 216-237.

 

 

Lecture 4: Behavioral Economics Applications & Environmental Sciences

 

 

Carlsson, F., & Johansson-Stenman, O. (2012). Behavioral economics and environmental policy. Annu. Rev. Resour. Econ., 4(1), 75-99.

 

Alpizar, F., Carlsson, F., & Johansson-Stenman, O. (2008). Anonymity, reciprocity, and conformity: Evidence from voluntary contributions to a national park in Costa Rica. Journal of Public Economics, 92(5-6), 1047-1060.

 

Schubert, C. (2017). Green nudges: Do they work? Are they ethical? Ecological economics, 132, 329-342.

 

 

Lecture 5: Critical reflections and alternative perspectives

 

Berg, N., & Gigerenzer, G. (2010). AS-IF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS: NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS IN DISGUISE? History of Economic Ideas, 18(1), 133–165. http:/​/​www.jstor.org/​stable/​23723790

 

 

Lecture 6: Behavioral welfare economics

 

Sunstein, C. (2020). Behavioral Welfare Economics. Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, 11(2), 196-220. doi:10.1017/bca.2020.14

 

 

Lecture 7: Digital Behavioral Economics and UX design

 

Caraban, A., Karapanos, E., Gonçalves, D., & Campos, P. (2019). 23 Ways to Nudge: A Review of Technology-Mediated Nudging in Human-Computer Interaction. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–15. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1145/​3290605.3300733

 

Gray, CM, Kou, Y., Battles, B., Hoggatt, J., & Toombs, AL (2018). The Dark (Patterns) Side of UX Design. Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–14. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1145/​3173574.3174108

 

 

Lecture 8: Behavioral Economics in the metaverse era

 

Rahwan, I.,  et al  (2019). Machine behavior. Nature, 568 (7753), 477

486 .

 

Yee, N., & Bailenson, J. (2007). The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior. Human Communication Research, 33(3), 271–290. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1111/​j.1468-2958.2007.00299.x

 

 

Lecture 9: Behavioral economic policy and implications

 

Cass R. Sunstein (2016), "Fifty Shades of Manipulation", Journal of Marketing Behavior: Vol. 1: No. 3-4, pp 213-244. http:/​/​dx.doi.org/​10.1561/​107.00000014

 

Bhanot, SP, & Linos, E. (2020). Behavioral Public Administration: Past, Present, and Future. Public Administration Review, 80(1), 168–171. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1111/​puar.13129

 

AL-UBAYDLI, O., LEE, M., LIST, J., MACKEVICIUS, C., & SUSKIND, D. (2021). How can experiments play a greater role in public policy? Twelve proposals from an economic model of scaling. Behavioral Public Policy, 5(1), 2-49. doi:10.1017/bpp.2020.17

 

DellaVigna, S., & Linos, E. (2020). RCTs to Scale: Comprehensive Evidence from Two Nudge Units (Working Paper No. 27594; Working Paper Series). National Bureau of Economic Research. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.3386/​w27594
Last updated on 21-11-2023