Upon successful completion of the course the student will be able to:

• Understand the limitations of models with rational decision makers.
• Understand the importance of the factors that influence the occurrence of events and the decision-making process.
• Analyze economic behavior using realistic assumptions and irrational behaviors.
• Ask questions that help to realistically depict the behavior of individuals.
• Plan and develop research tasks and experiments.

• The course introduces the basic tools in Behavioral Economics required to perform economics analysis and decision-making processes by understanding decision-making mechanisms and basic cognitive science. The experimental approach to basic issues of economics is promoted and presented, which is based on the monitoring of the behavior of individuals under laboratory and real conditions in a theoretical and empirical setting. The course is developed in the following sections:
• Introduction to Behavioral Economics – Introductory Concepts – Two Systems – Behavioral Economics in Selected Scientific Fields
• Heuristic Methods and Prejudices – Biases, Exercises and Applications
• Excessive Confidence – Mistakes and Misconceptions
• Risk Preferences, Time Preferences – Exercises and Applications
• Prospect Theory – Exercises and Applications
• Decision Making Procedures and Options – Exercises and Applications
• Nudge Theory, Introductory Concepts, Applications Behavioral Changes, Incentives and Nudges
• Applications of Nudge Theory
• Choice Architecture – Theory and Applications (Real Life Case studies and RCTs)
• Economic Applications – Public Policy Tools

Lectures (3 hours per week)

The assessment is based on student’s performance in the written final examination (80%), on a paper presentation during the semester (10%), and on a mid-term examination during the semester (10%). The content of written examinations deals with issues of understanding basic concepts, comparative evaluation of competitive theories and solving numerical problems related to the content of the course. The evaluation criteria are described in the Course Syllabus, which is posted on the platform e-class upatras.

Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) (e.g. powerpoint) in teaching. The lectures for each chapter are uploaded on the e-class platform in the form of ppt files, which the enrolled students can freely download.