Economics 302 - Behavioral Economics
Spring
2026
01
3.00
Juan-Camilo Cardenas
M W 2:30PM 3:45PM
UMass Amherst
84590
Morrill 2 Room 222
juancamilo@umass.edu
The course introduces students to behavioral economics as a method of analysis that incorporates insights from several disciplines, including psychology and sociology, into the basic economic model of decision-making. Behavioral economics broadens the scope of analysis of how people make decisions to take into account, for example, social norms, the role of trust and the prevalence of biases. By unpacking the varied and complex motivations behind decision-making, behavioral economics enriches the standard economic model. Viewing decision-making through the methods and insights of behavioral economics develops an understanding of why decisions that the standard economic model may call irrational may be, in context, perfectly rational.
ECON 103 or RES-ECON 102 Open only to ECON/ STPEC/ RES-ECON/MGRECON primary majors until November 17, then open to all.