98235 - Social Norms, Culture and Economic Decision-Making

Learning outcomes

Learning Outcomes: Students who successfully complete this course should be able to:

– Identify and describe major economic models of social preferences and discrimination

– Explain what is meant by “social capital”, and how it can influence economic outcomes

– Discuss the relationship between culture and economic development

– Understand simple research methods in experimental economics

– Critically read, assess, and present academic studies in economics

– Formulate a research question and outline an appropriate research design

Course contents

Individuals often deviate from the selfish utility-maximization assumed in classical microeconomics. We give gifts to friends, donate to charity, and turn out to vote. We also discriminate against minorities, engage in feuds, and ostracize outsiders. This course examines how social norms and culture can affect economic decision-making in these and other contexts. We will start by introducing models and empirical evidence of social preferences - concepts such as altruism, fairness, and reciprocity. We will then consider how social capital can stimulate economic growth, before turning to an example of negative social interactions - labor market discrimination. Finally, the course will discuss how culture has
shaped long-run economic growth.

 

The class will be conducted solely in English.

Readings/Bibliography

The exact class schedule will be determined by the interests and choices of the class. Rough course outline and example readings:

1. Social components to economic decision-making

- J. Chapman, M. Dean, P. Ortoleva, E. Snowberg, and C.
Camerer. Econographics. Technical report, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2018.

2. Models of social preferences
- G. Charness and M. Rabin. Understanding social preferences with simple tests. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(3):817-869, 2002.

3. Gift-giving and charity
- S. DellaVigna, J. A. List, and U. Malmendier. Testing for altruism and social pressure in charitable giving. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127(1):1-56, 2012.

4. What is social capital?

- J. Sobel. Can we trust social capital? Journal of economic literature, 40(1):139-154, 2002.

5. Social capital and economic development
- S. Knack and P. Keefer. Does social capital have an economic payoff? a cross-country investigation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(4):1251-1288, 1997.

6. Networks and social capital
- M. Granovetter. Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91(3):481-510, 1985.

7. Theories of discrimination
- K. K. Charles and J. Guryan. Studying discrimination: Fundamental challenges and recent progress. Annual Review of Economics, 3(1):479-511, 2011.

8. Gender differences in behavior and labor market outcomes

- M. Niederle and L. Vesterlund. Gender and competition. Annual Review of Economics, 3(1):601-630, 2011.

9. Culture and cultural transmission

-R. Fernanandez. Does culture matter? Handbook of Social Economics, 1:481-510, 2011.

10. Culture, political institutions, and economic growth

- G. Clark. Why isn't the whole world developed? Lessons from the cotton mills. Journal of Economic History, 47(01):141-173, 1987.

Teaching methods

The class will be conducted in English.

Each class will consist of a lecture part and a discussion part.

Lectures will be focused on explaining theoretical ideas. In the discussion part, students will be asked to present a reading to the class (either individually or in groups depending on class size).

Students are expected to attend lectures in order to fully benefit from discussion with and presentations by other students. Attending class is also necessary to complete the class presentation. Students that anticipate being unable to attend classes regularly should contact the professor before the first class to discuss potential alternative arrangements.

 

Assessment methods

Students must register in an exam session on Almaesami.

The final assessment will be based on:

1. Class attendance and contribution to classroom discussion: 8/30.

2. Presentation, slides, and lecture notes: 10/30. Students will
be asked to present a reading to the class, (either individually or in groups depending on class size).

3. Research proposal: 12/30. Students will be placed into small groups to develop a research proposal. The research proposal should include a detailed literature review and a proposed research design.

Further details of each of these components will be distributed through Virtuale.

Supervised use of AI tools is allowed in all activities, provided students implement active supervision and critical thinking and are able to account for the final content. Students will be asked to declare their use or non-use of AI in completing assignments. In cases of doubt, students may be asked to verify their understanding of submitted assignments orally.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities should contact the office responsible ( https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. Any requests for adaptation must be submitted (in conjunction with the DSA) to the lecturer at least 15 days before the exam date.

 

Teaching tools

The Unibo e-learning platform (Virtuale) will be used to share all relevant teaching material.

Office hours

See the website of Jonathan Neil Chapman