66538 - BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

insegnamento

ID:

66538

Tipo Insegnamento:

Obbligatorio

Durata (ore):

64

CFU:

SSD:

ECONOMIA POLITICA

Url:

Dettaglio Insegnamento:

GREEN ECONOMY AND SUSTAINABLE TRANSITIONS/Percorso Comune Anno: 1

Anno:

2024

Periodo di attività

Secondo Semestre (24/02/2025 - 06/06/2025)

Obiettivi Formativi

The objective of the course is to analyse the motivations of individuals toward the environment. Beyond mere economic incentives, various factors may prompt people to engage in prosocial and pro-environmental actions, challenging the traditional perspective of humans driven solely by selfish, monetary interests. The utility function of individuals advocating for a common public good, such as the environment, can be influenced by several factors: the "warm glow" individuals experience from their prosocial behaviour, aversion to inequality, a sense of reciprocity, adherence to social norms, and concerns about reputation.
By the end of the course, students will be equipped to assess and identify the most effective incentives for encouraging pro-environmental behaviour in individuals.

Prerequisiti

Fundamental issues of an undergraduate course in microeconomics.

Attendance is strongly recommended (not compulsory).

Metodi didattici

Frontal lessons

Dedicated seminars

Presentations of papers

Team works

Verifica Apprendimento

For students attending the course, the examination will be structured in two parts:
- 60% through individual (30%) and group works (30%)
- 40% through a final oral exam, to assess the knowledge of the topics taught during the course.
The final marking will be the weighted average of the two parts.

For students not attending the course, the exam will be a written test with three sections with open-ended questions. The written exam is devoted to test the achievement of the training objectives. The final marking will be the weighted average of the three parts.

The marking will range from 18/31 to 31/31 (cum laude)

Testi

Camerer, C. F., Loewenstein, G., & Rabin, M. (Eds.). (2011). Advances in behavioral economics. Princeton university press.

Gilli M., Nicolli F., Mancinelli S. (2018), Household Waste Management: Some Insights from Behavioural Economics, Palgrave Macmillan, London

Further material (included the slides) will be available on google classroom

Contenuti

- First part (8 hours): Basic topics of game theory. Prisoner’s dilemma. Ultimatum game. Dictator game. Public goods game.
- Second part (6 hours): Experimental results on the games.
- Third part (4 hours): Fairness and social preferences.
- Fourth part (4 hours): Theory of nudges
- Fifth part (4 hours): Prospect Theory. Loss aversion and mental accounting.
- Sixth part (8 hours): Incentives to a pro-social/pro-environmental behaviour. Extrinsic pecuniary incentives. Motivational incentives.
- Seventh part (4 hours): Field experiments: what they are; how to design and run a field experiment.
- Eighth part (4 hours): Firms’ behaviours in environmental innovation
- Ninth part (11 hours): Waste management behaviour. Analysis of individual motivations and incentives.
- Tenth part (11 hours): Energy and water saving behaviours. Analysis of individual motivations and incentives.

For students who have chosen the course among the elective exams, the following topics are excluded:
- Fairness and social preferences (4 hours)
- Firms’ behaviours in environmental innovation (4 hours)