Behavioral Economics Master Class

Applications of behavioral insights are expanding rapidly across public, health, social, and economic professions. This Master Class will cover the underlying theories for these approaches, examples of applications from around the world, and methods for implementation and evaluation. Students will learn from a broad range of strategies through a highly interactive format, designing and developing their own evidence-based behavioral interventions for use in organizations and communities.

The Experience

For a one-day Master Class, each module lasts for 30-40 minutes, with the remaining time used for the application practical. For the full-week program, each module is three hours plus a one-hour challenge or activity, with the final module expanding to a full day plus an extended group reflection and discussion.

All sessions are highly interactive and practical. All topics are presented first with an example or a task, followed by the theoretical explanation, followed by empirical examples of successful and unsuccessful initiatives across a number of sectors and policy domains. All topics cover major social and commercial issues meant to interest a range of professionals in industry, government, and academia. Topics are also of particular interest to investors, entrepreneurs, and those working in non-profit organizations.

Objectives

• To learn the fundamentals of applied behavioral science
• To understand the core theories and methods of behavioral economics
• Explore successes and failures of behavioral economics applied in the real world
• To get excited about opportunities for applications in health and healthcare, energy, education, finance, and public service
• To evaluate the methods of communicating with target audience when using behavioral interventions
• To learn analytical skills for identifying opportunities to apply behavioral interventions in workplaces and beyond
• To practice designing behaviorally-informed interventions relevant to work and interests of each participant
• To present the leading organizations responsible for making impact through using behavioral economics – locally and globally

More About This Course

The first decades of the 21st century have offered a remarkable shift toward considering human behavior in designing policies, improving management to boost organizational performance, and seeking to make an impact on population well-being. What has changed is how the behavioral sciences, largely psychology, have been embraced by leadership from many industries around the world, thanks largely to extensive evidence from empirical research in how populations save, spend, eat, exercise, and work.

This Master Class will cover a range of topics from the origins of behavioral sciences through to how recent advances in theory and practice have shifted our thinking on outcomes for organizations and society. Each section, including the fundamentals of behavioral sciences, policy development and evaluation, and all of the domains – economic, health, energy, education, workplace – cover examples of how behavioral insights are being used to address some of the most critical challenges we face.

The cases and concepts presented in this course are complemented by a recently published textbook, which each participant will receive. These will demonstrate the considerable value, both realized and potential, in studying as well as implementing behavioral insights into a variety of policy and management domains.

Curriculum

• Module 1: What are the behavioral sciences?
  • Introducing how behavior and decision-making are studied, translated to application, and useful across professions.
• Module 2: What is behavioral economics?
  • A review of the theories and examples for when management science met financial decision-making.
• Module 3: Nudges and beyond: an overview of real-world examples of behavioral insights
  • An extended presentation of critical examples for how nudges have worked – or not – in the real world.
• Module 4: Behavioral economics in society
  • A focused session on major behaviorally informed policies and initiatives aimed to addressing significant social challenges.
• Module 5: Behavioral economics in the workplace
  • A focused session on successful and ineffective applications of behavioral interventions for managers across organizations.
• Module 6: Evidence-based management: Implementation & evaluation for managers
  • A practical session guiding how behavioral economics goes from idea to action, and how effectiveness is assessed.
• Module 7: Simulation
  • An extended module to take all topics covered and apply to an area of participants’ choices. Those coming as a group will be able to work in a team, though individuals may prefer to work independently if they have a particular issue to address. Will involve significant interaction with instructor using an established method for practice.
• Assessment
  • There is no fixed evaluation to receive completion certificate, but can be developed if needed.
• Skills acquired
  • Fundamental skills in designing, implementing, and evaluating behavioral interventions related to policy and management.
• Prerequisites
  • While there are no prerequisites, some prior reading will be suggested related to management and behavioral sciences. It also helps to have a basic understanding of analytics, but it is not mandatory.
• Target Audience
  • Professionals from any industry with an interest in contemporary policy and management approaches focusing on behavior. Especially suited for those interested in major social and organizational challenges, such as costs of health care, climate change, financial decision-making