Department of Economics & International Development, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
EC30182 Experimental, behavioural and neuro economics |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Honours |
| Semester: 1 |
| Assessment: EX100 |
| Requisites: |
| Before taking this unit you must take EC20010 |
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Aims: The aim of the Unit is to present a fairly rigorous account of the material that relates to three independent but related areas: experimental economics; behavioural economics and neuroeconomics. Students will gain a critical appreciation of the theoretical tools used in these relatively new but increasingly important areas of economics. This unit can be studied as a self-contained module and contains applications to a variety of economic contexts.
Learning Outcomes: The learning outcomes are that, at the end of the course unit, students will understand (i) the way in which experiments have confirmed or cast doubt on some major propositions from economic theory, eg. Decision making under uncertainty (ii) the development and use of behavioural economic models to rival those standard in neoclassical economics, eg. Consumer theory; (iii) the 'apparent' workings of the brain when making 'economic' decisions, eg. Evidence from fMRI scans and (iv) the public policy relevance of this more empirically based type of economic actor. Skills: Using deductive reasoning in abstract models Applying theory to specific contexts Synthesising relevant material and debates Content: The course unit emphasises debate at the theoretical and empirical level, by generally contrasting the prescriptions and findings of conventional neoclassical economics with those who support a more inductive based theorising and laboratory investigation of economic theories. Specific topics include: individual choice and decision making under uncertainty; strategic interaction between behavioural agents; markets with behavioural consumers; the role of the public sector with behavioural actors; behavioural finance, neuroeconomics. Key texts: Kagel and Roth (1995) (eds) Handbook of Experimental Economics; Camerer, Lowenstein and Rabin (eds) (2003) Advances in Behavioural Economics; Altman M (2006) (ed) A Handbook of Behavioural Economics: Foundations and Developments. |