Summer School at U Copenhagen


Registered students can access all materials for the summer school through https://absalon.ku.dk/ . Some materials, especially readings, will be made avaliable about 3 weeks before the course starts. The lecture notes and assignments will be posted as the course progesses.

Here is information about how to register for the course (which is also possible for foreign students). 

Here is the syllabus of 2023. Note that the content changes somewhat from year to year.

The course starts July 31, 2023 (at 10:00) and lectures end August 18. The exam is held on Aug. 21.

The course 2023 takes place entirely on site (no streaming). Participation in demonstration experiments (see syllabus for times and dates) is required.  

Course Description

Behavioral economics attempts to make economics a more relevant and powerful science of human behavior by integrating insights from psychology and the social sciences into economics. Experimental economics is valuable in testing to what extent the integration of insights from other disciplines into economics is necessary and fruitful. 

Behavioral and Experimental Economics is a vibrant field of research in economics and sheds new light on many old and important issues in economics. The field has received wide recognition in recent years, for example by the award of several Nobel Prizes. The field is rapidly growing. This course can therefore not provide a comprehensive overview but concentrates on selected topics instead.

The course addresses the following questions

  • What are the advantages and limitations of experimental economics?
  • How can (different types of) experiments be used to shed new light on important questions in economics?  
  • How important are deviations from the assumptions of full rationality and strict self-interest in determining outcomes of economic interaction?

I argue that identifying individual-level “anomalies” is not sufficient to demonstrate their economic and social importance. Instead, it must be analyzed how institutions mitigate and multiply these anomalies. A broad range of institutions, including markets, bargaining and voting is discussed.

Requirements: A sound knowledge of microeconomics and game theory (Microeconomics III or equivalent) is required. 

Successful completion of this course earns students 7.5 ECTS credits.

Grading: a) participation in experiments and analysis of experimental data is required for admission to final exam, b) 100% final exam (2 hours). The assessment language is English.

a)   Participating in all demonstration experiments is an essential element of this course. However, you are not expected to prepare these experiments. You earn a pass if you are present, are attentive and make “reasonable” choices during the experiment. 

b)   Assignments: Students provide a rough analysis after each experimental session and answer specific questions concerning the experiment. Knowledge of the literature is not expected at this stage (see separate guidelines for more details). Students work in groups of  3. Papers are graded as “pass” or “fail” and at least 1 “pass” paper is required for admission to the final exam. I strongly recommend handing in the first assignment.

b)   The final exam covers the content of the lecture (2 hours, closed book, English; place and time tba).

A note on Exams: Relevant for the exams is what has been discussed in the lectures and I closely follow the slides in the lecture. Sample exams from previous years can be found on the webpages of the department (select "Behavioral and Experimental Economics")