UAA College of Business and Public Policy

Behavioral Economics (ECON 494E/694)

December 15, 2015

The Economics Department is offering a course in Behavioral Economics (ECON 494E/694) for advanced undergraduates and graduate students.

Behavioral Economics is an important and growing field within economics. One of its strengths is that it takes seriously findings from other disciplines – particularly psychology – but also neuroscience, sociology and others. Research in the field recognizes that the traditional assumption that people are perfectly rational is too strong. The implications of bounded rationality are being worked out in many fields of economics, finance, and in business and policy applications.

Consistent with this diversity of topics the course is structured to accommodate diverse student interests. Core readings on classic and modern behavioral economics findings are supplemented by a menu of choices allowing students to choose distinct emphases within the course whether on fundamental research methods and findings or on business and public policy applications.

Some background on the course text and topics is available online: faculty.cbpp.uaa.alaska.edu/jalevy/ECON694_2016.html

The course is taught by Jonathan Alevy who has published on many aspects of behavioral economics and finance. Feel free to contact him at jalevy@uaa.alaska.edu if you have questions about the course.