Behavioral economics studies the effects of psychological, cognitive and emotional factors on decision-making to help explain discrepancies between observed behavior and behavior implied by classical theory. Resorting to a combination of experimental methods and interdisciplinary approaches, researchers are starting to pin down the underlying biological mechanisms that govern cognition and emotions, and can further apply this knowledge to build credible models of decision-making. Results can provide valuable insights to design intervention in the area of financial decisions, health care, aging or education. 

The objective of the ECON 606 course is to review traditional and behavioral theories of decision-making and to discuss the state of the art research in the field.

This course is part of a sequence of classes that forms the core of the Behavioral Track of the MA program and the Behavioral Economics Sequence of the PhD program.  It is recommended to take it with ECON 616 that focuses on advances in Experimental Economics and ECON620 classes that offer both a practical approach of the field (methods, design of experiments, programming, statistics and econometrics, state-of-the-art research topics) and a hands-on experience.

You can read more about these classes here.

• First midterm exam: 02/24

• Second midterm exam: 03/31

• Third midterm exam: 04/21

• Final Project: last week of class (Friday before 5pm)

This site contains material used during the class, resources for regular assignments and final project, additional references and useful links.