Module
Experimental and Behavioural Economics
Module description
Summary:
Why do people give to charity? Why do people who buy insurance for their house gamble? Why do we like to conform to the behavior of the majority? We will explore these questions and more in this course. We will pitch the model of rational choice against theories of behavioural economics, and in the process acquire the toolkit for the modern behavioural economist.
Additional Information: Internationalisation
Microeconomics is relevant across countries as it is based on mathematical models.
Sustainability
All of the resources for this module are available on the ELE (Exeter learning Environment).
Employability
This module equips students with logical thinking, numeracy and writing skills, as well as an understanding and theoretical knowledge of economic issues. These help students think like economists, a quality highly valued by employers.
Full module specification
| Module title: | Experimental and Behavioural Economics |
|---|---|
| Module code: | BEEM125 |
| Module level: | M |
| Academic year: | 2021/2 |
| Module lecturers: |
|
| Module credit: | 15 |
| ECTS value: | 7.5 |
| Pre-requisites: | None |
| Co-requisites: | None |
| Duration of module: |
Duration (weeks) - term 2: 11 |
Module aims
The aim of this module is to enable students to examine economic theory from a behavioural perspective, and highlight instances where standard economics predicts actual choices correctly and instances where it does not. Students will be introduced to recent behavioural theories that have emerged to explain the empirical observations, and will discuss the implications for economics, business and politics.
ILO: Module-specific skills
- 1. be familiar with the methodology of and recent developments in behavioural economics and their impact on economic theories;
- 2. design a behavioural change intervention.
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
- 3. understand the difference between normative and positive theories of behaviour
- 4. understand the implication on behavior of ethical considerations in decision-making, such as fairness or honesty preferences
- 5. discuss and evaluate how economic theories are developed and tested
- 6. understand how new theories are developed to account for new empirical evidence
ILO: Personal and key skills
- 7. effectively communicate findings
- 8. produce high quality written work (whether in a group or individually)
- 9. engage in independent study
- 10. research and summarise a body of literature in order to produce a report
- 11. engage in critical thought and reasoned discussion
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | 117 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities | 22 | Lectures |
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 11 | Tutorials |
| Guided independent study | 117 | Reading, preparation for classes and assessment |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class Discussions | 1 hour | 1-5 | Written |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written essay | 70 | Max 5,000 words | 1-11 | Verbal and written |
| 10 ELE quizzes: each at 3% (30%) | 30 | MCQ | 1, 3-6 | Verbal and written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Written essay (70%) 5000 words | 1-11 | Aug/Sep |
| 10 ELE Quizzes: each at 3% (30%) | Any quizzes deferred will be set-aside*; any quizzes failed will also be set-aside* if the module is failed overall** | 1, 3-6 | n/a |
Re-assessment notes
*’Set-aside’ means that assessment is excluded from the overall module mark, and an overall mark is calculated from the remaining assessments with those remaining assessments re-weighted in proportion to produce a mark of up to 100%.
So for this module, if one of the quizzes (3% of the module) were to be ‘set-aside’ the marks for the remaining components would be added together and the maximum effective mark would be 97%. This would then be re-weighted to produce a mark up to 100%.
**If you pass the module overall you will not be referred in any component – even if you have not passed one or more individual components.
Syllabus plan
• Rational Choice
• Prospect Theory and Mental Accounting
• Bayesian Updating
• Heuristics
• Intertemporal Decision-Making
• Fairness
• Incentives and Moral Hazard
• Behavioural Change
• Honesty and the Economics of Crime
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Basic reading:
Baddeley, M. Behavioural Economics and Finance 2nd ed. 2018. Routledge.
Module has an active ELE page?
Yes
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/
Origin date
16/07/2014
Last revision date
11/06/2021