Learning outcomes

The course focuses on the major findings obtained in the last years within the framework of so called 'behavioural economics', an interdisciplinary field aimed at increasing the explanatory and predictive power of economic theory by relying on increasingly realistic behavioural assumptions. This process benefits from the ongoing dialogue taking place between economics and other social sciences, such as social psychology, cultural anthropology and social neuroscience. It also benefits from growing empirical support from economic experiments run both in the lab and in the field.

Program

1. Introduction. What is 'behavioural economics'? The two 'souls' of behavioural economics: bounded rationality and non-selfish rationality. Behavioural economics and experimental economics
2. From full rationality to bounded rationality. Cognitive biases and economic behaviour. Framing effects, loss aversion, endowment effect, intertemporal choices and present-biased preferences. Law of small numbers, gambler's fallacy and hot hand fallacy. Anchoring effect, money illusion and the sunk cost effect. Policy implications and 'asymmetric paternalism'.
3. From selfish rationality to non-selfish rationality. Experimental evidence and social preferences. Ethical consumption and Corporate Social Responsibility. Trust and social capital.
4. Ex ante utility, ex post utility and happiness paradoxes. Positional goods and relative income. Relational goods and subjective well-being.

References:

- “Pensieri lenti e veloci”, di D. Kahneman, Mondadori, 2012
- "Mente Mercati Decisioni", di M. Motterlini e F. Guala, EGEA, 2011
- “Behavioural Economics”, di S. Mullainathan e R. Thaler, voce scritta per l’International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2001
- “Regulation for Conservatives: Behavioral Economics and the Case for ‘Asymmetric Paternalism’”, di C. Camerer et al., University of Pennsylvania
Law Review, 151, 3, 2003
- “La responsabilità sociale dell’impresa” e “Felicità, beni relazionali, progresso civile”, di L. Becchetti, in L. Becchetti et al., Microeconomia,
il Mulino, Bologna, 2010
- “The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development”, di L. Guiso et al., American Economic Review, 94, 3, 2004

Further teaching materials will be provided online, through the E-learning service, within the specific webpage prepared for this course.

Examination Methods

60-minute written exam, based on a) multiple choice questions; b) an open question and c) an exercise based on behavioral game theory topics. It is also possible to prepare a talk or a discussion on an issue related to the course outline (see on this the explanatory material provided online within the dedicated E-learning page for this course).