PUBPOL 5130

Behavioral Economics and Public Policy

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

Standard economic theory assumes that individuals are rational decision-makers; however, that is often not the case in the real world. Behavioral economics uses findings from psychology to determine ways in which individuals are systematically irrational to improve upon existing models. The first part of this course reviews these theories, while the second part of the course focuses on how these findings have been used to design better education, health, and tax policies as well as many others. (MPA-ECONPL, MPA-ENPO, MPA-INTPMN, MPA-ME, MPA-PUBNON, MPA-SOCPOL)

Prerequisites PUBPOL 5210; PUBPOL 5960 or PUBPOL 5750 or CRP 5450.

Enrollment Information Enrollment limited to: graduate and professional students.

Last 4 Terms Offered 2026SP, 2025SP, 2024SP, 2023SP

Learning Outcomes

• Apply key theories from the field of behavioral economics.
• Apply economic insights from lab and field experiments to policy design.
• Interpret empirical results from research papers as they relate to policy.
• Identify assumptions in standard economic models that may not hold in real world settings and interpret empirical tests of their validity.
• Identify areas of policy where taking behavioral insights into account could improve public policy in terms of implementation, efficiency, or redistribution.

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