Summer School in Behavioural Economics and Experimental Economics

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 to 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 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. Recommendation letters will be given to students who perform well.

• Shravan Luckraz, UNNC, (PhD from the National University of Singapore)
• Marcus Roel, UNNC, (PhD from the London School of Economics)
• Shuo Yang, UNNC (PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas)
• Jan Jozwik, UNNC (PhD from the University of Oxford)
• Tom Lane, University of Newcastle (PhD from University of Nottingham)
• Ying Chen (Senior PhD student at UNNC)

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 economics” 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. CeDEx China, through its training programmes, enable students to gain an in-depth understanding of the most important methodologies and tools used in conducting experimental research. In addition, they will be able to acquire knowledge in the fields of behavioural economics, experimental game theory and economic psychology. They will also enjoy the unique experience of studying in the academic environment of a Sino-British University.

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 behavioural 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
• Methodological questions, practical issues, and best practices of running experiments.
• How to develop a research question.
• Developing hypotheses from theory and prior data.
• Designing actual experiments.
• Coding and running Experiments.
• 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.

• Developing your initial research idea.
• Presentations and subsequent refinement of your research questions.
• Turning questions into a real experiment: coming with the experimental instructions and treatment and control groups.
• Running your own experiment.
• Analysing experimental data.
• Presenting your findings.
• Conclusions, lessons learned, and farewell party.

Dates: 3 June to 21 June 2024 (tentative)

Tuition fee: 13,000 RMB

Early bird price: 12,000 RMB (for students who finish payment before 22 April)

Sign-up: to be announced shortly

• A good knowledge of intermediate microeconomics and econometrics is highly recommended. Ideally the candidate will be a Year 3 student of economics or international trade at UNNC.
• An introductory course in behavioral or experimental economics is beneficial albeit not required.
• Note that this course is designed to be complementary to the 3rd and 4th year Behavioral and Experimental Economics.
• Students from other universities are welcome to apply and experience the unique, international teaching style of UNNC.
• 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.