Behavioral Economics Syllabus
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Behind Behavioral Economic Man: the Methods and Conflicts Between Two Perspectives
Behind Behavioral Economic Man: The Methods and Conflicts Between Two Perspectives Rafael Nunes Teixeira Mestre em Economia pela UnB Daniel Fernando de Souza Mestrando em Desenvolvimento Econômico pela UFPR Keywords: behavioral economics methods, Kahneman and Tversky, Gigerenzer and the ABC Research Group Behind Behavioral Economic Man: The Methods and Conflicts Between Two Perspectives Abstract: This work analyzes the methods of research in decision-making of behavioral economists Kahneman and Tversky (K&T) and one of their main critics, Gigerenzer and the ABC Group. Our aim was to explain differences between these two approaches of BE by examining the procedure used by them to search for the cognitive processes involved in choice. We identified similarities between K&T and the mainstream economics methods that may explain some of the differences with their critics’ approach. We conclude with a discussion of how advances in BE, such as Nudges and Choice Architecture may take advantage of complementarities in these perspectives. Keywords: behavioral economics methods, Kahneman and Tversky, Gigerenzer and the ABC Research Group 1 Introduction Human behavior is a fundamental component of economics and is usually described and interpreted by the Rational Choice Theory (RCT). From Bernoulli to Kreps, the RCT has assumed many different forms and undergone a lot of change in its long history. One key aspect (Sen 2002, 2009) of RCT is the use of logical constructions to describe man as a rational decision maker1. In this view, choices and preferences must be consistent and follow regularities (e.g. completeness and transitivity, α and β (Sen 1971)) and statistical norms (e.g. -
Economics & Finance 2011
Economics & Finance 2011 press.princeton.edu Contents General Interest 1 Economic Theory & Research 15 Game Theory 18 Finance 19 Econometrics, Mathematical & Applied Economics 24 Innovation & Entrepreneurship 26 Political Economy, Trade & Development 27 Public Policy 30 Economic History & History of Economics 31 Economic Sociology & Related Interest 36 Economics of Education 42 Classic Textbooks 43 Index/Order Form 44 TEXT Professors who wish to consider a book from this catalog for course use may request an examination copy. For more information please visit: press.princeton.edu/class.html New Winner of the 2010 Business Book of the Year Award, Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Fault Lines How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy Raghuram G. Rajan “What caused the crisis? . There is an embarrassment of causes— especially embarrassing when you recall how few people saw where they might lead. Raghuram Rajan . was one of the few to sound an alarm before 2007. That gives his novel and sometimes surprising thesis added authority. He argues in his excellent new book that the roots of the calamity go wider and deeper still.” —Clive Crook, Financial Times Raghuram G. Rajan is the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Profes- “Excellent . deserve[s] to sor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and be widely read.” former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. —Economist 2010. 272 pages. Cl: 978-0-691-14683-6 $26.95 | £18.95 Not for sale in India ForthcominG Blind Spots Why We Fail to Do What’s Right and What to Do about It Max H. Bazerman & Ann E. -
Notes on Behavioral Economics and Labor Market Policy
Notes on Behavioral Economics and Labor Market Policy Linda Babcock, Carnegie Mellon University William J. Congdon, The Brookings Institution Lawrence F. Katz, Harvard University Sendhil Mullainathan, Harvard University December 2010 We are grateful to Jeffrey Kling for extensive discussions of these topics. We thank the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Russell Sage Foundation for their support of this project. 0. Background and motivation Recent years have been trying ones for American workers. The unemployment rate has reached double digits for the first time in over a quarter of a century. Worker compensation growth has all but stalled. The human costs of labor market turbulence have rarely been clearer, and the value of public policies, such as unemployment insurance and job training programs, that assist workers in managing that turbulence, gaining new skills, and navigating the labor market have rarely been more apparent. And, even in the best of times, the United States’ labor market is a dynamic and turbulent one, with high rates of turnover (over five million separations and five million new hires in a typical month in normal times) but substantial frictions as well. As a result, labor market programs and regulations are key components of economic policy. Such policies help support the unemployed, provide education and training opportunities, and ensure the fairness, safety, and accessibility of the workplace. The challenge for policymakers is to design such policies so that they meet these goals as effectively and as efficiently as possible. Labor market policies succeed in meeting their objectives, however, only to the extent that they accurately account for how individuals make decisions about work and leisure, searching for jobs, and taking up opportunities for education and training. -
When Does Behavioural Economics Really Matter?
When does behavioural economics really matter? Ian McAuley, University of Canberra and Centre for Policy Development (www.cpd.org.au) Paper to accompany presentation to Behavioural Economics stream at Australian Economic Forum, August 2010. Summary Behavioural economics integrates the formal study of psychology, including social psychology, into economics. Its empirical base helps policy makers in understanding how economic actors behave in response to incentives in market transactions and in response to policy interventions. This paper commences with a short description of how behavioural economics fits into the general discipline of economics. The next section outlines the development of behavioural economics, including its development from considerations of individual psychology into the fields of neurology, social psychology and anthropology. It covers developments in general terms; there are excellent and by now well-known detailed descriptions of the specific findings of behavioural economics. The final section examines seven contemporary public policy issues with suggestions on how behavioural economics may help develop sound policy. In some cases Australian policy advisers are already using the findings of behavioural economics to advantage. It matters most of the time In public policy there is nothing novel about behavioural economics, but for a long time it has tended to be ignored in formal texts. Like Molière’s Monsieur Jourdain who was surprised to find he had been speaking prose all his life, economists have long been guided by implicit knowledge of behavioural economics, particularly in macroeconomics. Keynes, for example, understood perfectly the “money illusion” – people’s tendency to think of money in nominal rather than real terms – in his solution to unemployment. -
Price Competition with Satisficing Consumers
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Aberdeen University Research Archive Price Competition with Satisficing Consumers∗ Mauro Papiy Abstract The ‘satisficing’ heuristic by Simon (1955) has recently attracted attention both theoretically and experimentally. In this paper I study a price-competition model in which the consumer is satisficing and firms can influence his aspiration price via marketing. Unlike existing models, whether a price comparison is made depends on both pricing and marketing strategies. I fully characterize the unique symmetric equilibrium by investigating the implications of satisficing on various aspects of market competition. The proposed model can help explain well-documented economic phenomena, such as the positive correla- tion between marketing and prices observed in some markets. JEL codes: C79, D03, D43. Keywords: Aspiration Price, Bounded Rationality, Price Competition, Satisficing, Search. ∗This version: August 2017. I would like to thank the Editor of this journal, two anonymous referees, Ed Hopkins, Hans Hvide, Kohei Kawamura, Ran Spiegler, the semi- nar audience at universities of Aberdeen, East Anglia, and Trento, and the participants to the 2015 OLIGO workshop (Madrid) and the 2015 Econometric Society World Congress (Montreal) for their comments. Financial support from the Aberdeen Principal's Excel- lence Fund and the Scottish Institute for Research in Economics is gratefully acknowledged. Any error is my own responsibility. yBusiness School, University of Aberdeen - Edward Wright Building, Dunbar Street, AB24 3QY, Old Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. E-mail address: [email protected]. 1 1 Introduction According to Herbert Simon (1955), in most global models of rational choice, all alternatives are eval- uated before a choice is made. -
Notes and Sources for Evil Geniuses: the Unmaking of America: a Recent History
Notes and Sources for Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History Introduction xiv “If infectious greed is the virus” Kurt Andersen, “City of Schemes,” The New York Times, Oct. 6, 2002. xvi “run of pedal-to-the-medal hypercapitalism” Kurt Andersen, “American Roulette,” New York, December 22, 2006. xx “People of the same trade” Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, ed. Andrew Skinner, 1776 (London: Penguin, 1999) Book I, Chapter X. Chapter 1 4 “The discovery of America offered” Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy In America, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (New York: Library of America, 2012), Book One, Introductory Chapter. 4 “A new science of politics” Tocqueville, Democracy In America, Book One, Introductory Chapter. 4 “The inhabitants of the United States” Tocqueville, Democracy In America, Book One, Chapter XVIII. 5 “there was virtually no economic growth” Robert J Gordon. “Is US economic growth over? Faltering innovation confronts the six headwinds.” Policy Insight No. 63. Centre for Economic Policy Research, September, 2012. --Thomas Piketty, “World Growth from the Antiquity (growth rate per period),” Quandl. 6 each citizen’s share of the economy Richard H. Steckel, “A History of the Standard of Living in the United States,” in EH.net (Economic History Association, 2020). --Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson, The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies (New York: W.W. Norton, 2016), p. 98. 6 “Constant revolutionizing of production” Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1969), Chapter I. 7 from the early 1840s to 1860 Tomas Nonnenmacher, “History of the U.S. -
Decision Making and Keynesian Uncertainty in Financial Markets: an Interdisciplinary Approach
Decision making and Keynesian uncertainty in financial markets: an interdisciplinary approach Ms Eirini Petratou, PhD candidate in Economics division, Leeds University Business School Abstract: This interdisciplinary research examines decision-making in financial markets, regarding secondary markets and financial innovation in Europe, so as to unveil the multiple dimensions of this complexly-layered world of financial interactions. Initially, I synthesise different literatures, including Post-Keynesian economics, behavioural economics and finance, and decision-making theory, in order to shape a more complete understanding of behaviours and outcomes in financial markets. Particularly, I focus on an analysis of Keynesian uncertainty in order to show the need of economic science for interdisciplinary research, on theoretical and methodological levels, and also to highlight potential links between Post-Keynesian theory and behavioural economics. After presenting the active role of decision-making under uncertainty into the creation of financial bubbles, as incorporated in Post-Keynesian economics, I support my argument by presenting findings obtained by a series of semi-structured interviews I conducted in 2016 in the UK, in order to investigate financial traders’ beliefs, perspectives and terminology about decision-making under uncertainty in financial markets. The goal of this qualitative project is to identify market professionals’ beliefs about market uncertainty and how they deal with it, to find out their knowledge about causes of the -
Featured Topic Social & Behavioral Science Interventions at the Federal Level in This Issue Nudging People to Get Flu Vaccinations
a publication of the behavioral science & policy association volume 2 issue 2 2016 featured topic social & behavioral science interventions at the federal level in this issue Nudging people to get flu vaccinations behavioralpolicy.org founding co-editors disciplinary editors Craig R. Fox (UCLA) Behavioral Economics Sim B Sitkin (Duke University) Senior Disciplinary Editor Dean S. Karlan (Yale University) bspa executive director Associate Disciplinary Editors Oren Bar-Gill (Harvard University) Colin F. Camerer (California Institute ofTechnology) Kate B.B. Wessels M. Keith Chen (UCLA) advisory board Julian Jamison (World Bank) Paul Brest (Stanford University) Russell B. Korobkin (UCLA) David Brooks (New York Times) Devin G. Pope (University of Chicago) John Seely Brown (Deloitte) Jonathan Zinman (Dartmouth College) Robert B. Cialdini (Arizona State University) Adam M. Grant (University of Pennsylvania) Cognitive & Brain Science Daniel Kahneman (Princeton University) Senior Disciplinary Editor Henry L. Roediger III (Washington University) James G. March (Stanford University) Associate Disciplinary Editors Yadin Dudai (Weizmann Institute & NYU) Jeffrey Pfeffer (Stanford University) Roberta L. Klatzky (Carnegie Mellon University) Denise M. Rousseau (Carnegie Mellon University) Hal Pashler (UC San Diego) Paul Slovic (University of Oregon) Steven E. Petersen (Washington University) Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard University) Jeremy M. Wolfe (Harvard University) Richard H. Thaler (University of Chicago) Decision, Marketing, & Management Sciences executive committee Senior Disciplinary Editor Eric J. Johnson (Columbia University) Associate Disciplinary Editors Linda C. Babcock (Carnegie Mellon University) Morela Hernandez (University of Virginia) Max H. Bazerman (Harvard University) Katherine L. Milkman (University of Pennsylvania) Baruch Fischhoff (Carnegie Mellon University) Daniel Oppenheimer (UCLA) John G. Lynch (University of Colorado) Todd Rogers (Harvard University) John W. -
Behavioral Economics and Marketing in Aid of Decision Making Among the Poor
Behavioral Economics and Marketing in Aid of Decision Making Among the Poor The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Bertrand, Marianne, Sendhil Mullainathan, and Eldar Shafir. 2006. Behavioral economics and marketing in aid of decision making among the poor. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 25(1): 8-23. Published Version http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jppm.25.1.8 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:2962609 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Behavioral Economics and Marketing in Aid of Decision Making Among the Poor Marianne Bertrand, Sendhil Mullainathan, and Eldar Shafir This article considers several aspects of the economic decision making of the poor from the perspective of behavioral economics, and it focuses on potential contributions from marketing. Among other things, the authors consider some relevant facets of the social and institutional environments in which the poor interact, and they review some behavioral patterns that are likely to arise in these contexts. A behaviorally more informed perspective can help make sense of what might otherwise be considered “puzzles” in the economic comportment of the poor. A behavioral analysis suggests that substantial welfare changes could result from relatively minor policy interventions, and insightful marketing may provide much needed help in the design of such interventions. -
Sendhil Mullainathan [email protected]
Sendhil Mullainathan [email protected] _____________________________________________________________________________________ Education HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MA, 1993-1998 PhD in Economics Dissertation Topic: Essays in Applied Microeconomics Advisors: Drew Fudenberg, Lawrence Katz, and Andrei Shleifer CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, NY, 1990-1993 B.A. in Computer Science, Economics, and Mathematics, magna cum laude Fields of Interest Behavioral Economics, Poverty, Applied Econometrics, Machine Learning Professional Affiliations UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Roman Family University Professor of Computation and Behavioral Science, January 1, 2019 to present. University Professor, Professor of Computational and Behavioral Science, and George C. Tiao Faculty Fellow, Booth School of Business, July 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. HARVARD UNIVERSITY Robert C Waggoner Professor of Economics, 2015 to 2018. Affiliate in Computer Science, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, July 1, 2016 to 2018. Professor of Economics, 2004 (September) to 2015. UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Visiting Professor, Booth School of Business, 2016-17. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Mark Hyman Jr. Career Development Associate Professor, 2002-2004 Mark Hyman Jr. Career Development Assistant Professor, 2000-2002 Assistant Professor, 1998- 2000 SELECTED AFFILIATIONS Co - Founder and Senior Scientific Director, ideas42 Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research Founding Member, Poverty Action Lab Member, American Academy of Arts -
Connections in Transportation Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT, Spring 2015
Behavior and Policy 11.478 Behavior and Policy: Connections in Transportation Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT, Spring 2015 Full Reading List Part I: Behavior and Policy in a Nutshell Class 1. Cafeteria Trays and Multiple Frameworks • Etheredge (1976) The case of the unreturned cafeteria trays: An Investigation based upon theories of motivation and human behavior Class 2. Ten Instruments for Behavioral Change • Miller and Prentice (2013) Psychological Levers of Behavior Change, Chapter 17 in Eldar Shafir, The Behavioral Foundations of Public Policy • Richard Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein: Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, Introduction • Daniel Kahneman: Thinking, Fast and Slow, Introduction Class 3. Measurement, Tools and Technology (Emile Bruneau) • Emile Bruneau 2015 "Putting Neuroscience to Work for Peace”, Working Paper • Duflo, E., Glennerster, R., & Kremer, M. (2007). Using randomization in development economics research: A toolkit. Handbook of development economics, 4, 3895-3962. • Greenwald, A. G., Nosek, B. A., & Banaji, M. R. (2003). Understanding and using the implicit association test: I. An improved scoring algorithm. Journal of personality and social psychology, 85(2), 197. You may try the Implicit Association Test here https://implicit.harvard.edu/ • Winter Mason and Siddharth Suri (2012) Conducting Behavioural Research on Amazon’s Mech Turk, Behavior Research Method 44(1) Class 4. My Brain at the Bus Stop: EEG & Waiting • Dan Ariely and Gregory S. Berns (2010), “Neuromarketing: The Hope and Hype of Neuroimaging in Business.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience. • Li, Zelin, F. Duarte, J. Zhao, Z. Zhao (2015) My brain at the bus stop: an exploratory framework for applying EEG-based emotion detection techniques in transportation study, working paper Class 5. -
Sendhil Mullainathan Education Fields of Interest Professional
Sendhil Mullainathan Robert C Waggoner Professor of Economics Littauer Center M-18 Harvard University Cambridge, MA 02138 [email protected] 617 496 2720 _____________________________________________________________________________________ Education HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MA, 1993-1998 PhD in Economics Dissertation Topic: Essays in Applied Microeconomics Advisors: Drew Fudenberg, Lawrence Katz, and Andrei Shleifer CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, NY, 1990-1993 B.A. in Computer Science, Economics, and Mathematics, magna cum laude Fields of Interest Behavioral Economics, Poverty, Applied Econometrics, Machine Learning Professional Affiliations HARVARD UNIVERSITY Robert C Waggoner Professor of Economics, 2015 to present. Affiliate in Computer Science, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, July 1, 2016 to present Professor of Economics, 2004 (September) to 2015. UNVIRSITY OF CHICAGO Visiting Professor, Booth School of Business, 2016-17. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Mark Hyman Jr. Career Development Associate Professor, 2002-2004 Mark Hyman Jr. Career Development Assistant Professor, 2000-2002 Assistant Professor, 1998- 2000 SELECTED AFFILIATIONS Co - Founder and Senior Scientific Director, ideas42 Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research Founding Member, Poverty Action Lab Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences Contributing Writer, New York Times Sendhil Mullainathan __________________________________________________________________ Books Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, joint with Eldar Shafir, 2013. New York, NY: Times Books Policy and Choice: Public Finance through the Lens of Behavioral Economics, joint with William J Congdon and Jeffrey Kling, 2011. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press Work in Progress Machine Learning and Econometrics: Prediction, Estimation and Big Data, joint with Jann Spiess, book manuscript in preparation. “Multiple Hypothesis Testing in Experiments: A Machine Learning Approach,” joint with Jens Ludwig and Jann Spiess, in preparation.