Linköping University
Spring 2012
Behavioral Economics
730A15
Spring 2012
Camilla Josephson (camilla.josephson@liu.se) & Gustav Tinghög
(gustav.tinghog@liu.se)
Course information
Course Overview: This course studies the ways that economic and psychological factors
jointly influence behavior. We will analyze choices that economic actors make in the lab
and in the field and we will try to explain these choices with economic models. We will
enrich the standard economic model by incorporating psychological mechanisms,
including limited rationality, limited self-control and social preferences. This course is
intended for students from all diciplines interested in research.
By the end of the course students should
• have an overview of major papers in the literature and appreciate differences between
neoclassical and behavioral methods.
• be able to apply the basic frameworks to economic problems.
• recognize some of the key debates in thinking about how behavioral economics can
inform public policy.
Collapsed Course Outline
Date
Topic
Readings
05-apr
10-apr
12-apr
17-apr
19-apr
24-apr
26-apr
Behavioral economics, an overview
Fairness and Social Preferences
Fairness and Social Preferences
Time Prefernces
Time Prefernces
Risk Preferences
Risk Preferences
Ch.1-2
Ch. 8
Articles
Ch. 5-6
Articles
Ch. 3
Articles
Presenter
Camilla
Gustav
sem.
Gustav
Sem
Gustav
sem.
Examination: Take home exame. Seminar participation. Experiment synopsis hand in.
Articles:
12 apr
Fairness and Social Preferences
Linköping University
Spring 2012
Henrich, J., R. Boyd, et al. (2001). "In search of Homo economicus: Behavioral
experiments in 15 small-scale societies." American Economic Review 91(2): 7378.
Mellström, C. and M. Johannesson (2008). "Crowding out in blood donation: was Titmuss
right?" Journal of the European Economic Association 6: 845-863.
19 apr
Time Preferences
Frederick, K. (2003). "Measuring intergenerational time preferences: Are future lives
valued less?" Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 26(1): 39-53.
O’Donoghue, T. and M. Rabin (1999). "Doing it now or doing it later." American
Economic Review 89(1): 103-124.
26 apr
Risk Preferences
Kahneman, D. (2003). "Maps of bounded rationality: Psychology for behavioral
economics." American Economic Review 93(5): 1449-1475.
Kahneman, D., J. L. Knetsch, et al. (1990). "Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect
and the Coase Theorem." Journal of Political Economy 98(6): 1325-1348.
List, J. A. (2004). "Neoclassical theory versus prospect theory: Evidence from the
marketplace." Econometrica 72(2): 615-625.