M.A. Seminar: Behavioral Economics and Public Policy

In the past decade, behavioral economics has played an increasingly important role in achieving public policy objectives in domains as distinct as health, the environment, finance, and education. Behavioral economics research studies the ways in which decision-making deviates from classical economic theory: how psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural and social factors affect how economic agents make decisions, how this affects their outcomes, and what this implies for social welfare. 

In this seminar course, we will study the role of behavioral economics in public policy from empirical, theoretical, and philosophical perspectives, where students will conduct an in-depth analysis of a topic or research question of their choice. They will give a presentation on the current state of the scientific literature and policy landscape of their topic, and write a seminar paper that makes an independent contribution to their topic. The paper can take the form of, for example, a literature review and analysis of a specific subfield or policy area, or an analysis and extension of the empirical results of a published paper using statistical software. The framework of the paper can be adapted to meet students' own interests.  

Grading:

seminar paper (60%), presentation (30%), active participation (10%).

Dates:

We will meet in person.

Kick-off meeting: TBD. Late October.
Presentations: TBD. Mid-January.