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The goal of behavioural economics is to improve classic microeconomic theory by introducing motives and concepts from related fields like psychology and sociology. The driving paradigm of most neo-classical economic research is the concept of the Homo Oeconomicus, a human who approaches all problems in a rational and typically selfish way and who possesses boundless computational power and flawless reasoning. Despite the obvious oversimplification, the given assumptions allow the precise analysis of a large number of complex problems and have led to many interesting and often surprising findings and theories. While the value of constructing theoretical economic models is beyond doubt, it is important to be aware that the simplifying assumptions made within limit the scope of the predictions made. The assumption that perfectly reasonable people interact in a strictly logical way often leads to conclusions which bear no resemblance to real-world observations. The role of behavioural economic research is not to abandon theoretical research but to question and test the assumptions made by economic models, to identify contradictions to actual observations when they occur and to develop alternative models to capture apparent flaws in the models, or, as one might argue, flaws in human behaviour. Examples for such flaws include loss aversion1 and non-exponential discounting which, despite being irrational from a theoretical perspective, seem to be prevalent themes in human behaviour. Social preferences play a role when people interact and social norms cause them to behave in a nice way when treated well or to reciprocate and punish their counterpart even at their own expense. Furthermore humans have difficulties when dealing with complex problems, which is referred to as bounded rationality. People tend to make calculation mistakes, use rough approximations and imprecise simplifications when facing difficult problems. The first three chapters of this dissertation cover three different topics tied to behavioural economics. They connect concepts originating from psychology and sociology like intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the so-called locus of control and apply them to microeconomic problems like the optimal effort provision in a principal-agent setting. The fourth chapter is strongly related to computer science as it describes the development of a computer system intended to simplify the design and conduction of economic experiments. While it is the project most distant to economics, it is arguably also the most ambitious of the four projects.

This thesis contains three chapters studying questions of behavioural and experimental economics. Chapter 1, titled "Heterogeneity in lies and lying preferences", develops a theoretical framework and an experimental design which I use to identify systematic patterns of lying behaviour in the presence of heterogeneity of lies and decision-makers. I show that accounting for these patterns provides large gains in out-of-sample predictions of lying decisions. Chapter 2, titled "Eliciting preferences for truth-telling in a sample of politicians", studies the connection between politicians' truth-telling preferences and observable variables such as re-election success. The chapter has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Chapter 3, titled "Reasoning about others' reasoning", introduces an experimental design strategy to disentangle cognitive from beliefbased levels of play in a model of iterative reasoning based on observed choices in an experiment. The chapter has been published in the Journal of Economic Theory. ; Aquesta tesi conté tres capítols que estudien qüestions d'economia del comportament i experimental. El capítol 1, titulat "Heterogeneïtat en mentides i preferències per mentir", desenvolupa un marc teòric i un disseny experimental que faig servir per identificar patrons sistemàtics de comportament mentider en presència d'heterogeneïtat de mentides i de decisors. Demostro que tenir en compte aquests patrons proporciona grans guanys en prediccions fora de la mostra. El capítol 2, titulat "Obtenir preferències per dir la veritat en una mostra de polítics", estudia la connexió entre les preferències per dir la veritat dels polítics i variables observables com l'èxit de la reelecció. El capítol s'ha publicat a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. El capítol 3, titulat "Raonar sobre el raonament dels altres", introdueix una estratègia de disseny experimental per diferenciar en un joc els nivells d'actuació basats en creences dels basats en límits cognitius en un ...

Traditional economic theory assumes that individuals are self-interested. They only care about their own well-being and disregard the impact of their actions on the others. However, the assumption of selfish individuals is unable to explain a number of important phenomena and puzzles. Individuals frequently engage in actions that are costly to themselves with no apparent reward. Behavioural economics provides plausible explanations for these actions. Individuals can be "boundedly rational" (Simon, 1955, and Kahneman et al. 1982) and/or can be driven by altruistic, equity and reciprocity considerations (see for an overview Fehr and Schmidt, 2006). Over the past decade, researchers have applied behavioural economics models to the study of organisations and how contracts should be designed in the presence of non-standard preferences and asymmetric information or incomplete contracts (see for an overview of the literature Köszegi, 2014). In my current research, I try to be at the forefront of these new behavioural economics applications into traditional industrial organisation and contract theory themes. The usual prescriptions of standard models can be misleading if potential differences in the agents' preferences are overlooked. Behavioural economics can make great progress if it takes into proper accountmarket and organisational features. ; Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion ; info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Chapter 2 presents an abstract, game-theoretic framework that describes how behaviour could be influenced by context effects. The empirical analysis from Chapter 3 uses the SOEP to evaluate the extent to which health-conscious behaviour affects the demand for private supplementary health insurance in a cross-sectional analysis. Chapter 4 is an epistemological discussion of welfare. It is argued that decisions such as on nudging cannot be justified under welfaristic premises, so that responsibility for such decisions cannot be transferred to objective circumstances.

Behavioural economics and behavioural finance are rapidly expanding fields that are continually growing in prominence. While orthodox economic models are built upon restrictive and simplifying assumptions about rational choice and efficient markets, behavioural economics offers a robust alternative using insights and evidence that rest more easily with our understanding of how real people think, choose and decide. This insightful textbook introduces the key concepts from this rich, interdisciplinary approach to real-world decision-making. This new edition of Behavioural Economics and Finance is a thorough extension of the first edition, including updates to the key chapters on prospect theory; heuristics and bias; time and planning; sociality and identity; bad habits; personality, moods and emotions; behavioural macroeconomics; and well-being and happiness. It also includes a number of new chapters dedicated to the themes of incentives and motivations, behavioural public policy and emotional trading. Using pedagogical features such as chapter summaries and revision questions to enhance reader engagement, this text successfully blends economic theories with cutting-edge multidisciplinary insights. This second edition will be indispensable to anyone interested in how behavioural economics and finance can inform our understanding of consumers' and businesses' decisions and choices. It will appeal especially to undergraduate and graduate students but also to academic researchers, public policy-makers and anyone interested in deepening their understanding of how economics, psychology and sociology interact in driving our everyday decision-making.

Introducing behavioural economics -- Microeconomic principles -- Motivations and incentives -- Heuristics and bias -- Prospects and regrets -- Learning -- Time and plans -- Bad habits -- Sociality and identity -- Personality, moods and emotions -- Behavioural public policy -- Neuroeconomics I: Principles -- Neuroeconomics II: Evidence -- Behavioural finance -- Behavioural anomalies in finance -- Corporate investment and finance -- Emotional trading -- Macroeconomics and financial systems -- Behavioural macroeconomics and finance -- Financial instability and macroeconomic performance -- Happiness and wellbeing -- Bibliography -- Index.