This course aims to teach students some techniques of behavioural economics, classical economics, and compare the two approaches. It focuses on the principles and basic models of decision-making used by both streams of economists, as well as their consequences.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of how behavioural economists think and approach economic questions;
2. clearly express the advantages, disadvantages, criticisms and limitations of Behavioural Economics.
3. demonstrate an understanding of the tools taught in class and be able to recognise their application to the analysis of real world situations;
4. demonstrate an understanding of aspects of decision-making and solve simple analytical problems.

Research-Led Teaching

The lecturer is a user and developer of behavioral models and applications in his own research. As a consequence, students will be exposed to the use of behavioral models in

current economic research.

Recommended Resources

Erik Angner, A course in behavioral economics, 3rd edition, PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 2021. You can purchase the textbook from the bookstore on campus. ANU Library also has eBook version of the third edition as well as hard copies available for short term loan in the Chifley Library. The Library also has copies of the 2nd edition including an electronic version.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• written comments
• verbal comments
• feedback to whole class, groups, individuals, focus group etc

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	0. Introduction A. Origins of behavioral economics (Chap 1.2) B. Methods (Chap 1.3) I. Choice under certainty A. Rational choice (Chap 2)	All chapter references refer to Angner (2016) A course in behavioral economics, 2nd edition.
2	I. Choice under certainty (continued) B. Opportunity costs, sunk costs, coherent arbitrariness and context effects (Chap 3.2, 3.3 & 3.4) C. Loss aversion, anchoring & adjustment, choice overload (Chap 3.5 & 3.6) D. Framing effects, bundling & mental accounting (Chap 7.2 & 7.3)	Tutorial activities
3	II. Judgement Under Risk and Uncertainty A. Probability Theory (Chap 4.2 & 4.3) B. Conditional probability, total probability, Bayes' rule and Bayesian Updating (Chap 4.4, 4.5 & 4.6)	Tutorial activities; problem set 1 due 5pm Friday 12 August.
4	II. Judgement Under Risk and Uncertainty (continued) C. Conjunction & disjunction fallacies (Chap 5.3) D. Representativeness and other heuristics and biases (Chap 5.2, 5.4, 5.5 & 5.6)	Tutorial activities
5	III. Choice Under Risk and Uncertainty A. Rational choice under uncertainty (Chap 6)	Tutorial activities; problem set 2 due 5pm Friday 26 August.
6	III. Choice Under Risk and Uncertainty (continued) B. Allais and Ellsberg problems, probability weighting, prospect theory and multiple priors (Chap 7.4, 7.5 & 7.6)	Tutorial activities
7	IV. Inter-temporal Choice A. The exponential discounted utility (EDU) model (Chap 8) B. Evidence against the EDU model	Tutorial activities; problem set 3 due 5pm Friday 23 September.
8	IV. Inter-temporal Choice (continued) C. Hyperbolic discounting (Chap 9.2 & 9.3) D. Temptation & Self-control (see references from lecture slides) E. Misprediction and miswanting (Chap 9.5)	Tutorial activities
9	V. Strategic Interaction A. A (very!) brief introduction to game theory (Chap 10)	Tutorial activities; problem set 4 due 5pm Friday 7 October.
10	V. Strategic Interaction (continued) B. Models of social preferences: distributional preferences and face-saving concerns (Chap 11.2) C. Intentions-based social preferences (Chap 11.3) D. Boundedly rational strategic reasoning (Chap 11.4)	Tutorial activities
11	VI. Choice Architecture (Chap 12.2)	Tutorial activities; problem set 5 due 5pm Friday 21 October.
12	VII. Assessing behavioral economics (Chap 12.3)	Tutorial activities

Tutorial Registration

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage. https://www.anu.edu.au/students/program-administration/timetabling

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Learning Outcomes
Problem Sets. 40%	40 %	1,2,3
Final Examination 60%	60 %	1,2,3

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information 
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the Academic Integrity . In rare cases where online submission using Turnitin software is not technically possible; or where not using Turnitin software has been justified by the Course Convener and approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on the basis of the teaching model being employed; students shall submit assessment online via ‘Wattle’ outside of Turnitin, or failing that in hard copy, or through a combination of submission methods as approved by the Associate Dean (Education). The submission method is detailed below.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Participation

Lectures will be delivered on-campus and attendance is expected unless travel restrictions prevent it, in which case, students can view the Echo360 recordings. Slides will be made available before the lectures on Wattle. Lectures will be recorded and will include all the written notes and diagrams from the lecture. This recording will be uploaded to Echo360. All tutorials except for one will be delivered on-campus. There will be one tutorial delivered via Zoom for those students unable to attend an on-campus tutorial owing to travel restrictions. Participation in tutorials is strongly encouraged but is not compulsory. However, I will not be providing answer keys to tutorials as I believe they do not adequately replicate tutorial attendance. A student who misses a tutorial should ensure they work through the questions and utilize the consultation sessions of either their tutor or the lecturer if they require any assistance with any of the tutorial questions.

Assessment Task 1

Problem Sets. 40%

There will be five problem sets. The questions for each problem set will be posted on Wattle no less than 1 week before the due date. Answers will be due Friday at 5pm in weeks 3, 5, 7, 9 & 11 and should be submitted via Turnitin. Answer keys to each problem set will be posted on Wattle shortly after the due date. Our aim is to return marked assignments within 10 days of submission (and thus before the due date of the next problem set). As a consequence no late submissions will be allowed. Instead, only the best four marks will count toward a student's final mark.

Assessment Task 2

Final Examination 60%

The final exam will contribute 60% of the overall mark. The final exam will be comprehensive, in the sense that questions may be drawn from all the topics discussed during the semester. Students will prepare their answers (written or typed) and then submit via Turnitin. Exams will be invigilated via Zoom, so students will need to ensure they have an active camera and adequate power for the entire duration of the exam. The exam will be scheduled during the end-of-semester examination period and will consist of 30 minutes reading time and 3 hours writing time.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of the ANU culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically, committing to honest and responsible scholarly practice and upholding these values with respect and fairness.

The ANU commits to assisting all members of our community to understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to be familiar with the academic integrity principle and Academic Misconduct Rule, uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with.

The Academic Misconduct Rule is in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Very minor breaches of the academic integrity principle may result in a reduction of marks of up to 10% of the total marks available for the assessment. The ANU offers a number of online and in person services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. Visit the Academic Skills website for more information about academic integrity, your responsibilities and for assistance with your assignments, writing skills and study.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

Individual assessment tasks may not be submitted late. Policy regarding late submission is detailed below:

• Late submission not permitted. A mark of 0 will be awarded for the late submission of assessment tasks after the due date.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. Extensions may be granted for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students