ECON 4880/5880 – Individual Decision Making (Winter 2024)

In Winter 2024 we are offering ECON 4880/5880, titled Individual Decision Making with instructor Lanny Zrill. Registration is open now on Carleton Central. View the course description here:

ECON 4880/5880: Individual Decision Making

Winter 2024

Instructor Lanny Zrill

The choices of individual decision makers form the foundation of modern economic models, from household savings decisions to the determination of interest rates by central bankers. In this course, we will do a deep dive into various theories of individual decision making, starting with the standard rational choice model, the workhorse model of individual choice in economics. We will also consider alternative models which have been proposed to explain systematic violations of the standard model. In doing so, we will explore theories and results from many disciplines, including economics, but also psychology, neuroscience, marketing, biology, computer science, and anthropology. Our focus will be on evaluating these theories empirically, often using laboratory experiments, but also using real-world applications. Topics include decision making under risk and uncertainty, intertemporal choice, altruism and reciprocity, bounded rationality, choice architecture (nudges), and artificial intelligence. Students will acquire an appreciation of the enormous complexity of individual decision making, as well as the remarkable success of researchers in better understanding and predicting individual choice behavior.

*ECON 3706 and ECON 4706 have been waived as prerequisites for this course.

Health Economics – ECON 3460 (Fall 2023) and ECON 4460 (Winter 2024)

Did you you that you can take courses in Health Economics at Carleton University? We offer ECON 3460 and ECON 4460 some terms if the topic of health economics interests you. Hear about the courses from Professor Gaëlle Simard-Duplain, who specializes in health economics:

Check out recent course outlines for ECON 3460 (Fall 2022) and ECON 4460 (Winter 2023).

Economic Data Science & Computational Analysis Concentrations

Did you know that the Department of Economics at Carleton University offers concentrations in Economic Data Science and Computational Analysis? This means that while enrolled in the Bachelor of Economics program you can get some unique training in these fields. Professor Thomas Russell explains in this video the benefits of the Data Science and Computational Analysis concentrations:

Read more about the Economic Data Science and Computational Analysis concentrations.