Behavioral Economics

The course covers topics that incorporate findings and concepts from psychology into economic analysis, with applications to individual decisions, public goods, social norms, organizations and markets, and politics. The lectures focus primarily on formal models, but the readings tie them closely to experimental evidence. Themes include social preferences (fairness, reciprocity, intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation); self-control; motivated beliefs (overoptimism, wishful thinking); reference-dependence (loss aversion, prospect theory); imperfect memory and attention; bounded rationality (cognitive limitations, choice overload, satisficing).