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Root number
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481518 |
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Semester
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FS2025 |
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Type of course
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Lecture |
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Allocation to subject
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Economics |
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Type of exam
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Written exam |
| Title |
Behavioral Economics |
| Description |
481518-FS2025-0-Behavioral Economics
*** IMPORTANT ***
For the most updated administrative course information (date changes, room changes etc) please always refer to the KSL page only and not to the Info page in ILIAS – the ILIAS infopage will not be updated!
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The neoclassical model constitutes the dominating paradigm within economics. One may say rightly so, as the model does a (surprisingly) good job at making qualitative predictions in a broad range of settings. And yet, quite often (and even predictably so) it fails to properly predict and explain human behavior. The field of behavioral economics addresses these systematic shortcomings of the neoclassical model, by “injecting good psychology and other social sciences”, as Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler puts it.
In this course, we will cover several of the key models which have emerged in the past 40 years or so and are increasingly pervasive within mainstream economics. In doing so, we will reflect on where the “standard model” falls short and where behavioral economics allows us to make better predictions. We will (aim to) cover the following topics:
1) Foundations
2) Intertemporal preferences
3) Reference-dependent preferences
4) Preferences over uncertainty
5) Social preferences
6) Beliefs
7) Decision processes
In each topic, we will roughly follow the following structure: (A) identify anomalies, that is, evidence which is at odds with the standard model; (B) introduce behavioral theory and discuss it; (C) where appropriate, we will also highlight welfare implications of market and policy responses to “behavioral agents”.
The course emphasizes economic models, but will also cover experiments and empirical evidence when evaluating the behavioral models relative to the standard model. However, in order to go beyond the academic perspective, the plan is to invite guest lectures from different industries to highlight how behavioral economics is being applied in practice.
The course will closely follow the book “Behavioral Economics: Evidence, Theory, and Welfare” by Brandon Lehr.
lecture: Tuesday, 09.15 - 11.00 hrs, A-122, UniS
Exercise with Severin Wildhaber (severin.wildhaber@unibe.ch)
thursdays, 08.15 - 10.00 hrs, bi-weekly, 114, H4
1.Exam: Tuesday, 27 May, 2025, 09.15-10.45 hrs, A-122, UniS
2. Exam: Tuesday, 09. September 2025, 09.15 - 10.45 hrs, tba |
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ILIAS-Link (Learning resource for course)
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No registration/deregistration in CTS (Admission in ILIAS possible).
ILIAS
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Link to another web site
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| Lecturers |
Prof. Dr.
Jean-Michel Nicolas Benkert, Department of Economics ✉
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ECTS
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4.5 |
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Recognition as optional course possible
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Yes |
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Grading
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1 to 6 |
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| Dates |
Tuesday 09:15-11:00 Weekly
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Thursday 13/3/2025 08:15-10:00
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Thursday 27/3/2025 08:15-10:00
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Thursday 10/4/2025 08:15-10:00
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Thursday 8/5/2025 08:15-10:00
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Thursday 15/5/2025 08:15-10:00
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Thursday 22/5/2025 08:15-10:00
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Tuesday 9/9/2025 09:15-10:45
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| Rooms |
Hörraum 114, Hauptgebäude H4
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Hörraum A -122, UniS
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| Students please consult the detailed view for complete information on dates, rooms and planned podcasts. |
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