Institution: Graduate School at Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences – University of Hamburg
Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Dr. Lydia Mechtenberg
Schedule:
Thursday, 22.10.15 – Thursday, 28.01.16
every two week 10:00 – 13:00
Place: University of Hamburg, Von Melle Park 9
Registration: You can register for the course until 30.09.2015 (13:00) via Geventis.
Course description:
Topics: This course offers a new perspective on Political Economics by informingthe latter field with insights from Behavioral Economics. Political Economicstraditionally analyses social choice, voting, lobbying, political institutionsand government behavior under standard assumptions. Behavioral Economics, bycontrast, identifies open puzzles in Political Economics and explains them withthe help of insights from Behavioral Economics, like bounded rationality(illusion of control, incorrect probability judgments, limited memory etc.) andsocial and / or procedural preferences. These new theories are tested in thelab.
Method: Students present and discuss recent research in BehavioralPolitical Economics in class and provide a “referee report” on a related paper.
Aim: The goal of this course is twofold. First, students will become“competent consumers” of the literature in Behavioral Economics. Second, theywill be enabled to develop a research project in this field that may becomepart of their dissertation.
Organization: A reading list will be provided by the beginning of October. Inthe first session on class, I will shortly present the papers, and the studentswill choose what to present and what paper to write a report on. Then, we willmeet every other week for the presentation and discussion of the literature.
Requirements: PhD Students who want to participate must have taken some coursein Behavioral or Experimental Economics. The class is open to advanced Masterstudents.