Neuroeconomics

About the course

Subjects

Marketing Psychology Consumer behaviour

Course content

Neuroeconomics is a recently evolved interdisciplinary enterprise at the intersection of psychology, economics, and neuroscience. Its goal is to understand human decision-making in social and economic contexts at a descriptive (functional and brain process) level. The course will offer insights into this new and exciting field and will touch upon the complementary methodological contributions made by behavioral economics, cognitive psychology, neurophysiology, and neuroimaging. The economic tasks and decisions we will cover in this course include the formation and construction of preference, decisions under risk and uncertainty, intertemporal choice, as well as strategic decisions that require predicting the behavior of others and the role of trust and cooperation in such decisions.

See course description in course catalogue

What you will learn

The learning objectives of this course are that students are able to: • study the neuroeconomics literature and acquire basic knowledge about the methods being used • reflect on the implication on economics related to the modern view of the brain • acquire knowledge about the brain and its role in preference formation and decision making • select an appropriate case for applying theories and models from the course • identify relevant theories and models from brain science and/or economics to describe and solve a specific problem related to the case • draw conclusions and discuss their implications for economics

Course prerequisites

A modest degree of mathematical sophistication and rudimentary knowledge of the basics behavioral decision research is required. Some background in experimental research methods and passing familiarity with elementary concepts in probability, statistics, and microeconomics will be helpful. The course will be accessible and useful to students in marketing, management, behavioral economics and finance.

Facts

Level

Master

Type

Elective

ECTS

7.5

Code

CEMAV1007U

Teaching periods

Autumn – 2nd quarter

Academic year

2025/2026

Status

Available places

Teaching language

English

Teaching Format

Hybrid

Exams

Written assignment
Individual exam, winter

Assessment type

7 point grading scale