Topics in Economics: Economics and Psychology

This course is about the challenges that economic theorists face in their quest for economic models in which decision makers have a "richer psychology" than prescribed by textbook models. The enrichment takes two forms: (i) broadening the set of considerations that affect decision makers' behavior beyond simple, material self-interest; (ii) relaxing the standard assumption that agents have unlimited ability to perceive and analyze economic environments, and that they reason about uncertainty as "Bayesian statisticians". Special emphasis will be put on the implications of "psychologically richer" models on market behavior.