The School of Economics UNNC is running a summer school in Experimental and Behavioural Economic with a focus on research. In addition to covering the fundamental topics in behavioural and experimental economics, the training will challenge students to formulate and eventually run their own experiments. The students will be equipped with the fundamentals that will allow them to develop their own research questions. Furthermore, they will be able understand and apply various experimental methodologies. They will also be encouraged to analyse and present their research findings about some topic of their choice.The course is primarily intended for students who want to develop their basic research skills and will provide them with an early training in preparation for their Bachelor's or Master’s degree dissertation in this area. The course will also help students in their applications for economics and finance-related Master/PhD programmes.
Programme Dates:
3 June-21 June, 2024
Tuition Fee:
13,000 RMB
Early bird price:
12,000 RMB (DDL:23 April)
This fee includes the course fee and related materials, but does not include meals and accommodation.
Course Background
Over the last 30 years, experimental and behavioural economics have become a rising field within economics as behavioural theories of decision-making, drawing on insights from psychology and neuroscience, are deemed to provide a richer explanation of human behaviour than the classical simplistic “homo economicus” representation. Furthermore, it is widely believed that controlled experiments provide a powerful empirical tool for testing hypotheses in environments where observational studies are unable to identify causal relationships. This led to the opportunity for the field of experimental economics to flourish.
Course Structure
The course will take place over a three-weeks period and is comprised of two parts.
A. The first half will cover the fundamentals of the methodology used in experimental economics and will cover several real-life examples and problems. It intends to address some of the classical problems encountered in the field as well as current relevant topics in behavioral economics. Students will be encouraged to come up with their own research question(s).
B. The second half of the course will be project-based, and students will be supervised to design their own experiments and will work in small groups of 2-4 students under the supervision of an expert in the field.
Part A (Day 1-8)
Introduction
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Methodological questions, practical issues, and best practices of running experiments.
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How to develop a research question.
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Developing hypotheses from theory and prior data.
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Designing actual experiments.
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Coding and running Experiments.
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Being on the other side of an experiment -working in our CeDEx lab, and taking part in a designed experiment.
Part B (Day 9-15)
Group project – create and run your own experiment.
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Day 9: Developing your initial research idea.
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Day 10: Presentations and subsequent refinement of your research questions.
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Day 11: Turning questions into a real experiment: coming with the experimental instructions and treatment and control groups.
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Day 12: Running your own experiment.
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Day 13: Analysing experimental data.
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Day 14: Presenting your findings.
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Day 15: Conclusions, lessons learned
Course Advantages
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Experimental and behavioural economics have become a rising field within economics which can provide a richer explanation of human behavior.
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By participating in this summer school, students can gain exposure to and acquire relevant research experience, which can be helpful for their future master applications.
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CeDEx is renowned in the field of economics and is known for its excellent reputation. Attending this summer school will be a beneficial experience for students.
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Upon completion of the course, students will receive a course certificate and a recommendation letter, which can be helpful for their applications to master's or PhD programmes in relevant discipline.
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This course does not overlap with the regular curriculum knowledge of students, and learning in this summer school can broaden their knowledge in the field of economics.
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Students will have the opportunity to experience the unique learning atmosphere and learning mode of a Sino-British university in an immersive manner.
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Outstanding performers will also receive an Excellence Certificate.
Instructors
Prof. Shravan Luckraz
Shravan Luckraz is a Professor of Economics in the School of Economics and Director of the CeDEx China. His research interests lie primarily in the fields of Game Theory and Mathematical Economics. He is currently on the editorial board of the Bulletin of the Institute of Mathematics, a guest editor of Dynamic Games and Applications and on the board of reviewers of Mathematical Reviews of the American Mathematical Society. He served as a guest editor of the Annals of Dynamic Games for the years 2017-2020 and has been a long serving member of the International Society of Dynamic Games (ISDG). He was awarded the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grant and fellowship in 2016 and 2019.
Dr. Shuo Yang
Shuo Yang is an Assistant Professor in School of Economics at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. In his research, he applies experimental and behavioral approaches to study topics in labor economics, public economics, health economics, and development economics. His research has been published in economics journals, including Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics. Dr. Yang received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Dr. Jan Jozwik
Doctor Jan Jozwik is a member of the Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics (CeDEx) China. His main research interests lie in experimental economics, development economics, and applied microeconometrics. Jan’s research in experimental economics is based on lab experiments and artefactual field experiments conducted in China, the UK and Ghana. At the UNNC he is the module convenor for the postgraduate module Applied Behavioural Economics and for the undergraduate module Advanced Development Economics. Jan is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy/Advance HE.
Dr. Marcus Roel
Dr Marcus Roel's research focuses on combining theoretical and practical approaches to understanding human motivation and behaviour. Prior to joining the University of Nottingham Ningbo, he taught at Beijing Normal University for five years.
Dr. Ying Chen
Ying Chen is a research scholar and the lab manager (interim) at CeDEx China. She earned a PhD in Economics from the University of Nottingham and a master's degree in Microeconomics and Decision Making at Universität Konstanz. Her research interests lie in the fields of behavioural and experimental economics, with a focus on social network, social norm and social identity. She has several working papers to revise and resubmit to top field journals. She also has rich experience in running economics labs, organising economics experiments (lab/field/online experiment), as well as experimental programming (zTree/oTree/PHP/Javascript) and data analysis (Python/R/Stata).
Dr. Tom Lane
Tom has been working at Newcastle University Business School since September 2023 as a senior lecturer specialising mostly in behavioural and experimental economics. From 2018-2023, he was assistant professor at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). He was awarded a PhD in behavioural economics in 2017 by the University of Nottingham, where he conducted his research within the world-leading behavioural economics research centre CeDEx, of which he also became local director for its China branch from 2019-2023. Tom’s research has been published in leading journals such as the American Economic Review, European Economic Review, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Public Economics and Oxford Economic Papers. He uses a variety of experimental and non-experimental methods to study a range of topics across economics and touching upon related social sciences. He has taught courses in all the core areas of economics, and from 2019-2023 convened all undergraduate modules in behavioural and experimental economics at UNNC.
About Us
About CeDEx
CeDEx China is an offshoot of the Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics (CeDEx), a world-leading research group based within the School of Economics at the University of Nottingham (UK) (ranked second in Europe and fifth in the world for experimental economics). It investigates human decision-making using theoretical and experimental methods.
The CeDEx China organizes activities in the following three areas.
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Research: It brings together researchers from all three faculties of UNNC and around the world to conduct state-of-the-art research in Behavioral Economics, Decision Theory, Economic Psychology and related areas.
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Public Engagement: It promotes empirically motivated policy implications that are relevant to both the domestic and international contexts.
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Education: It offers the opportunity to UNNC students to participate in research projects and provide them with quality training delivered by experts in their respective fields.The CeDEx China currently comprises of 35 members - 10 academic staff from the School of Economics, 5 PhD students from the school of Economics, 20 external members (from within and outside UNNC).
About School of Economics
Part of the UK Nottingham School of Economics, a top ranked economics department, we provide students with a rigorous training in economics and econometrics. Studying the same programmes and modules as in the Nottingham campus (with opportunities for international exchanges), our students receive a high quality degree in the best traditions of British higher education but in the dynamic setting of modern China.
The School of Economics at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) is an integral part of the School in the UK. Our teaching follows the same flexible, modular structure as in the UK. Our programme BSc (Hons) International Economics and Trade has been awarded Zhejiang Provincial 13th Five-Year Plan Undergraduate Distinction Course (浙江省“十三五”特色本科专业) and Municipal Branding Award for Key Excellence Programme of Ningbo Higher Education Institutions (第五批宁波市高校重点建设学科品牌专业). Our postgraduate students have the opportunity to conduct research under the supervision of internationally recognized scholars in economics.
As an economics student at UNNC:
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you study at a branch of one of the UK's most prestigious economics schools
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your degree programme is identical to the same course offered at the School in the UK
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you have the opportunity to spend some of your degree programme at our campuses in the UK and Malaysia
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you are among a group of students who include the brightest from China and the world
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you have excellent career prospects
Join us
Prerequisites
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A good knowledge of intermediate microeconomics and econometrics is highly recommended. Ideally the candidate will be Year 3 student of economics or international trade at UNNC.
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An introductory course in behavioural or experimental economics is beneficial albeit not required.
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Note that this course is designed to be complementary to the 3rd and 4th year Behavioural and Experimental Economics.
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Students from other universities are welcome to apply and experience the unique, international teaching style of UNNC.
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A high English proficiency is expected as the course is taught fully in English, and students are expected to present their work at multiple occasions.
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