75975 - BEHAVIOURAL ECONOMICS

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

This course aims at providing students with analytical tools useful to understand and make decisions in conditions of imperfect and incomplete information, risk and uncertainty. Students will learn how to deal with intertemporal choices, strategic interaction and the problems arising from information asymmetry and transaction costs

Contenuti

1. The limits of rationality

2. Choice and risk

3. Choice and time

4. Euristics and biases

5. Happiness and utility

6. Applications of behavioural economics to industrial organization: i) how firms can exploit consumers' cognitive limits; ii) how firms' strategies are affected by individuals' (e.g. managers) cognitive limits.

7. Real play in games: a simulation in class.

Testi/Bibliografia

The main textbook is: 

Edward Cartwright, Behavioural Economics, Routledge 2014

For a general introduction to behavioral economics, students can also refer to: 

Erik Angner, A Course in behavioural Economics, Palgrave Macmillan 2012.

Other readings on specific topics will given at the beginning of the course.

Metodi didattici

Frontal lectures and simulation in class.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

A single written exam covers both modules (Module 1: Behavioral Economics and Module 2: Industrial Organization) and aims at evaluating the skills and the critical abilities developed by the students as regards to the theories explained during lectures. In order to pass the exam students must obtain a sufficient mark for both Module 1 and Module 2. The exam lasts 1h 30m.

Students attending lectures may choose to take the exam through two partial exams.

- The partial exam for Module 1 is scheduled at the end of the first term of lectures, and is 45 minutes exam.

- The partial exam for Module 2 is scheduled at the end of the second term of lectures, and it is 45 minutes exam.

Only students who pass the first mid-term assessment are admitted to the second mid-term assessment. The final mark is the unweighted average of the marks in the two Modules.

For Module 1, students participating to simulation activities in class will get an extra point on the mark for this module.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Beamer.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Lorenzo Zirulia