ECON42515: BEHAVIOURAL ECONOMICS

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• to develop students' ability to master the knowledge and understanding at an advanced level of key issues in Behavioural Economics;
• to provide students with the opportunity to develop the ability to critically understand current theoretical and empirical research in the field of Behavioural Economics;
• to provide students with the ability to critically review a wide range of behavioural phenomena that influence decisions, and the consequences of these phenomena for economic outcomes, with a view to undertaking a dissertation in the fields of Behavioural Economics; and potentially future research work in this area.

• As Behavioural Economics is a new and constantly changing discipline, this module will cover a set of core topics and additional topics that depend on the current nature of the discipline and the interests of the students each time:
• Core Topics may include:
• prospect theory and frame dependence
• cognitive heuristics and biases
• social preferences
• nudging
• Additional Topics may include:
• individual characteristics
• happiness
• limited attention
• overconfidence
• emotions
• neuroeconomics

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• have an advanced knowledge and critical understanding of Behavioural Economics and be able to take critical approach to economic claims in general;
• understand how research into Behavioural Economics is conducted, and what the criteria are for evaluating both behavioural and market-based evidence.

Subject-specific Skills:

• be able to assess the implications of Behavioural Economics on effective policy-making, anomalies in markets, and biases in individual and group decision making.

Key Skills:

• Written Communication;
• Planning, Organising and Time Management;
• Problem Solving and Analysis;
• Using Initiative;
• Numeracy;

• A combination of lectures, seminars and guided reading will contribute to achieving the aims and learning outcomes of this module. Classroom activities will be used to illustrate how research in Behavioural Economics is conducted and how results are interpreted.
• The summative assessment is composed of two assignments, one of 750 words and one of 1500 words designed to test students' knowledge and critical understanding of the material covered in the module, their analytical and problem-solving skills.

Work prepared by students for seminars; answers to questions either discussed during a seminar, or posted on Learn Ultra; feedback on discussions with teaching staff during consultation hours, or via e-mail.

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