WHAT CONTROLS OUR BEHAVIOR?
More often than not, humans behave in both irrational and surprising ways. Why promote bonus pay while acknowledging that most successes are an effort of collaboration? Why pay for an expensive gym membership that is hardly ever used? Why dissociate with dishonesty while over-charging the insurance?

In this course, we dive into why humans behave as they do - and what we can do to change behavior. We will cover a large variety of different types of behavior in many different contexts. We discuss topnotch techniques to measure behavior, discuss theories to understand behavior, and, how empirically to validate the nudging tools employed to affect behavior. We apply the learned material on a concrete case from your work or private life.

In 2021 this course was rated 4,3 on a scale from 1-5, where 5 equals very satisfactory.

COURSE CONTENT
The starting point of behavioral economics is to observe how humans behave in the many choices and contexts they engage in. Often, the behavior is irrational, heavily affected by context and emotional states, remarkably unstable, and highly diverse across people.

In the course, we discuss how to get precise insights into actual behaviors and implement these insights to improve decision-making in daily life.

KEY BENEFITS
After completion of the course, you have obtained:

• A solid understanding of why and to what extent human behavior is irrational
• Knowledge about central behavioral economics theories and concepts
• Insights into what constitutes a precise and reliable way of measuring actual human behavior
• Learning about how malleable behavior is and how behavior is affected through nudging
• Understanding of how to run controlled behavioral experiments

The concrete application of the behavioral economics way of thinking in the workplace is established through discussions with the instructors and the other participants

Learning in the course is based on active engagement with the instructors and other participants. The teaching is a combination of lectures, cases studies, and assignments. The course also features presentations by practitioners who use behavioral economics in their professional life.

All teaching is in English.