Admission requirements
Description
This course is an introduction to behavioral economics: the attempt to incorporate insights from psychology into economics. Though behavioral economics is a relatively new field, it has already led to one Nobel Prize, is taught in all major universities, and is beginning to have a huge impact in finance, marketing, management, industrial organization, psychology, political science, and philosophy.
In this course, we will study how behavioral economists explain a range of psychological and social phenomena, and how those explanations differ from standard economic ones. In particular, we will study various ways in which (apparent) bounded rationality influences people’s judgment and decision-making.
Behavioral economics is invaluable to anyone with an interest in human behavior. It is particularly relevant to those with an interest in economics, public policy, management, marketing, industrial organization, and the psychology of judgment and decision-making. No previous acquaintance with behavioral economics is necessary.
Course objectives
Learners will understand and are able to explain the major concepts and theories in behavioral economics,
Learners will understand and are able to explain what implications these theories have for policy making and firms’ strategy,
Learners will be able to design an empirical (experimental) study to test the major theories of behavioral economics as well as examine novel behaviorally informed public policies/behavioral interventions.
Timetable
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
Lectures and tutorials
Assessment method
Written exam (50%)
Final project (40%)
In-class paper presentation (10%)
Students fail the course if the grade for the (final) exam is assessed below 5.0.
Students can resit the exam and the final project if and only if they have a failing grade for that component. Students cannot resit the in-class paper presentation.
Students fail the course if the grade for the (final) exam is assessed below 5.0.
The final grade is expressed as a whole or half number between 1.0 and 10.0, including both limits. The result is not to be expressed as a number between 5.0 and 6.0.
If one of the components of the final mark constitutes a component that assesses attendance or class participation, students cannot take a retake for this component. Therefore, students fail the course if their mark for this component is less than 4.0.
Partial grades, inclusive the exam grade will not be rounded. If partial grades will be communicated, it is possible partial grades are rounded, but unrounded partial grades will be used in the calculation of the final grade. The final grade will be rounded at 0.5 (5.49 will rounded down to a 5 and a 5.5 will be rounded up to a 6.0).
Students pass the course if the final grade is 6.0 or higher (5.49 will rounded down to a 5 and a 5.5 will be rounded up to a 6.0).
For courses, for which class participation is an assessment component, students may not be penalised for an absence if the student has a legitimate justification for this absence. The student must notify the program coordinator via email (info@sbb.leidenuniv.nl) of such an absence BEFORE the lecture, describing the reason for missing the lecture. If the student does not notify the program coordinator before the lecture, the student will be penalised. Students may be required to provide further documentation to substantiate their case, and class attendance requirements are only waived under exceptional circumstances such as illness.
Reading list
Angner, Erik, A Course in Behavioral Economics , 3rd Ed. (London: Red Globe Press, 2021).
Academic articles that will be distributed in due course.
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
For any questions contact the Business Studies coordinator
Remarks
There is only limited capacity for external students. Please contact the programme coordinator
Students are responsible for enrolling/unenrolling themselves for (partial) exams/retakes.
Students who are entitled to more exam/retake time must report to info@sbb.leidenuniv.nl 10 days before the exam/retake takes place.
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.