Course: Summer School on Behavioural Economics (under AgriFoodBoost H2020 project)

Venue: Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

Date:   20 – 23 September 2022

Course leader: Dr. Achilleas Vassilopoulos

The course is free of charge but space is limited. Coffee and lunch will be provided. To apply for admission, please submit your curriculum vitae and a one-paragraph statement of your research interests by June 30: https://forms.gle/hkYnajNuwyvJwGECA  

The course aims to provide students with an introduction to the principles of Behavioural Economics. The course will introduce the basic theories (neoclassical and behavioural) of choice between alternatives that differ in terms of the outcomes’ timeframe, distributional effects, and probability of occurrence. The course is designed for undergraduate or graduate students of economics or related fields, with no prior knowledge on the topic. Although standard economic theory will be explained briefly at the beginning of each section, some prior knowledge of basic microeconomic theory (e.g. utility functions, indifference curves, etc.) is considered useful. No advanced mathematics is required. The depth of the topics covered will be analogous to the textbooks (none required but both recommended):

  • Angner, E. (2020). A course in behavioural economics. 3rd ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan (link)
  • Lehr, B. (2022). Behavioural Economics: Evidence, Theory, and Welfare. 1st ed. New York: Routledge (link)

 

Outline

Introduction to Behavioural Economics

  • Background
  • Experiments and other Methods
  • Applications

Making Decisions for now

  • Utility Maximization
  • Reference Dependence
  • Mental Accounting
  • Inattention

Making Decisions for the future

  • Discounted Utility Model
  • Present Bias
  • Consumption Dependence

Making Decisions under Risk

  • Expected Utility
  • Non-standard Beliefs
  • Non-Expected Utility

Making Decisions involving Others

  • Self-Interested Preferences
  • Other-Regarding Preferences

 

Tentative schedule

Tuesday 20/9

14.30 -15.00 Registration

15.00-16.45 Class

16.45-17.00 Coffee break

17.00-18.45 Class

Wednesday 21/9

10.00-11.30 Class

11.30-11.45 Coffee break

11.45-13.15 Class

13.15-14.30 Lunch break

14.30-16.00 Class

Thursday 22/9

10.00-11.30 Class

11.30-11.45 Coffee break

11.45-13.15 Class

13.15-14.30 Lunch break

14.30-16.00 Class

Friday 23/9

09.30-10.45 Class

10.45-11.00 Coffee break

11.00-12.15 Class

12.15-12.30 Conclusions/Discussion