MA Behavioral Economics

A first-of-its-kind MA program in the field of decision-making, which began to receive particular recognition after Kahneman (2002) and Thaler (2017) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their related works. The program integrates aspects of economics and psychology, and provides insight into economic policy and social change, which attempts to answer questions that concern us all: What factors influence our decisions when we take economic risks? Do we use emotion or logic when making decisions? What are the forces that affect the way we make decisions under conditions of uncertainty?

Apply

Calendar

Brochure

Head of Program

Dr. Guy Hochman

Faculty

About the Program

The MA program in Behavioral Economics is a joint program of the Tiomkin School of Economics and Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology. The aim of the program is to provide students with theoretical and applied knowledge in psychology, economics, and public policy. The program relies on the strong historical link between these three disciplines; its goal is to train behavioral economists and give them practical tools and hands-on experience with state-of-the-art policies and interventions aimed at improving decision-making processes.

The program is taught in English, by leading classical and behavioral economists. Our faculty members are doing cutting-edge and innovative research in behavioral economics, alongside their work in the field. The cooperation between the School of Economics and the School of Psychology creates a unique interdisciplinary program. We invite you to join us on a fascinating and enriching experience.

Program Highlights

The program is designed for students from Israel and abroad who are passionate about human behavior, and motivated to lead social changes and to help individuals and organizations better manage their lives. Suitable candidates may come from a range of academic backgrounds, including psychology, economics, sociology, law, computers, and more.
The program includes a research track (thesis) and nonthesis track (final project). Students must select their preferred track by the end of the 4th mini semester.
Applicants can have a bachelor’s degree in any field, and must have a grade point average of at least 80.
9 mini semesters (6 weeks each) over the course of two academic years.
The program offers behavioral economics internships for top students.
Courses will be given 2 days a week: Sundays and Fridays.

For more information on the Thesis click here

*In Mini semester 1 only, the school day will start at 13:00 on Sundays.

What Are You Going To Study?

Prerequisite Courses
- Dr. Amitay Kauffmann
  
  This course will focus on basic and more advanced procedures in statistical analysis. We will start with basic parameters (e.g., proportion and mean) and move to more advance methods, such as advanced linear regression models and ANOVAs.
- Dr. Michael Reifen-Tagar
  
  Students in this course will be presented with the central streams of research in social psychology and classic theories, as well as the main research methods utilized in this field.
- Dr. Carolina Silva
  
  This course aims to familiarize students with methods of data analysis in economics and advanced issues in econometrics. Students will be exposed to state-of-the-art statistical techniques and will learn how they can be applied when analyzing issues of social concern and public policy.
- Dr. Tali Regev
  
  This course introduces a framework for understanding consumer behavior and decisions about saving and employment/leisure. It will cover topics such as uncertainty and equilibrium when agents play non-cooperatively or have asymmetric information.
Core Courses
- Dr. Ron Lazer
  
  This course provides theoretical and practical tools to analyze financial information, primarily information in financial statements, for the purpose of making investment decisions. The primary focus is on equity (share) valuation, with some attention given to credit analysis and the valuation of debt.
- Dr. Guy Hochman
  
  This course deals with the emergence and development of the field of behavioral economics. We will examine how people make decisions, why these decisions lead to systematic biases, and how theory is applied to organizational and economic decisions.
- Prof. Itzhak Gilboa
  
  The course will expose students to the basic ideas of decision theory, mostly under risk and uncertainty. Decision theory principles will be taught in a critical way, generating a dialog about the “right” way to make decisions.
- Dr. Amitay Kauffmann
  
  This course aims to impart a critical perspective of, and an empirical familiarity with, the range of methods available to behavioral researchers. The course will overview advanced and state-of-the-art research methods in the fields of behavioral economics, psychology, and decision making.
- Mrs. Anat Halevi
  
  In this course, student will be exposed to real-life applications of behavioral economics. The course includes lectures by people from different domains, who apply the principles and insights in their practice.
- Dr. Yekoutiel (Couty) Sabah
  
  This course combines social work policy theory and practical skills. The course equips students with a toolkit of policy design instruments and teach students to critically evaluate and analyze policies.
- Dr. Tali Regev
  
  Experimental economics is concerned with testing economic hypotheses & policies in a laboratory setting. The course will examine the main topics in economics using experimental methods.
- Guest Lecturers
  
  The Behavioral Economics seminar is a Colloquium that will take place three times in each mini-semester, for 2 mini-semesters. Each seminar involves a guest lecturer from leading universities in Israel and around the world and/or experts from the field.
- Ms. Liat Erel
  
  This course is designed to provide students with knowledge in one of the most useful programs, Excel, while emphasizing examples from the economics field.
- Dr. Avihai Lifschitz
  
  This course is designed to teach programming in R, reading data into R, accessing R packages, and data processing and statistical analysis using R.
Advanced and Applied Courses
- Dr. Ariel Tikotsky
  
  The practicum seminar introduces students to concepts and practices expected of them during their practicum experience and their professional lives. The seminar will set the ground for the actual work, with classes focusing on methodologies, best practices and case studies, and simulations.
- Dr. Guy Hochman
  
  During the course, we will present different approaches to interventions, debiasing techniques, and environmental designs aimed at encouraging people to make optimal, moral, and pro-social decisions. Students will work in groups to propose different behavioral interventions designed to solve key societal issues.
- Prof. Shahar Ayal
  
  Behavioral Ethics is the study of the systematic and predictable ways in which individuals make ethical decisions and judge the ethical decisions of others. The course introduces this interdisciplinary topic, which is at the forefront of research today.
- Prof. Shimon Kogan
  
  This course investigates how individuals and firms make financial decisions, specifically savings and investment decisions, how these decisions deviate from the rational benchmark, and how these decisions impact financial markets. Policies and regulations to improve and transform these decisions will be discussed.
- Dr. Eyal Pe'er
  
  This course examines how the insights of behavioral economics are shaping public policy in various areas. We will review the main public policy themes, and discuss their implications regarding a wide variety of policy and economic issues.
- Dr. Ariel Tikotsky & Dr. Efrat Salton
  
  The practicum allows students to participate in a supervised work program, where they apply coursework knowledge in a practical setting. The practicum will include class discussions revolving around dilemmas encountered at the hosting organizations.
- Prof. Yona Rubinstein
  
  Taking advantage of recent research papers published in top outlets, this course focuses on how to formulate questions of interest in an econometric model, estimate the parameters of interest using a state-of-the-art menu of econometric methods, and structurally interpret the estimates using these tools.
- Prof. Michal Grinstein-Weiss
  
  This course provides students with the skills and knowledge to implement policies in real-world settings. The course will cover theory, innovation, research, and program development in Israel, as well as in other countries.
- Dr. Orly Idan
  
  The course focuses on the role and use of language in the realm of persuasion. It aims to provide students with a range of practical methods, tools, and approaches to leverage credibility and persuasiveness, and to find solutions that benefit all stakeholders.
- Dr. Sarit Goldner
  
  The course addresses the methodological strategies for behavioral economics research. The course will cover topics such as differences analysis, RCTs, and attrition and selection biases. We will highlight the strengths and limitations of research designs and econometric analysis.
- Dr. Moran Ofir
  
  In recent years, researchers in both economics and in psychology have demonstrated that people systematically deviate from the predictions of the rational choice model. This course will incorporate these findings into legal analysis.
- Dr. Inbal Stockheim
  
  This course focuses on how principles of behavioral economics may be applied to understand and predict consumer preferences, and how marketers can utilize such principles when designing new products and services, to maximize customer satisfaction.
- Prof. Dan Zakay
  
  Most economic models adopt a normative approach to decision-making, focused on how one should optimally make decisions. By contrast, this course takes a descriptive approach focused on how people actually make decisions. The aim of the course is to improve the ability of students to predict and influence the behavior of others, by understanding how other people make decisions.
- Dr. Yair Friedman
  
  The Sharing Economy is one of the fastest growing business trends in history. In its digital form, Sharing Economy is a relatively new social-economic phenomenon made possible by the ubiquity of smart phones, inefficiency of ownership, and the establishment of trust among communities and networks. This course examines the design of various platforms and markets, and introduces this phenomenon and its antecedents, characteristics, and outcomes. It also presents a wide variety of related issues, such as complementary currencies, circular economy, and servicing.
Final Project & Thesis
- Dr. Guy Hochman
  
  This seminar is set up to support students in their thesis work, based upon the individual research they conduct, and to discuss the written works of the students and their progress. The seminar is open only to student who are doing the thesis program.
- Dr. Aluma Dembo & Ms. Maya Goldberg
  
  This seminar is set up to support students in their work on their final project. The seminar will guide students through key issues in research and critical reading. The seminar is open only to student who are not enrolled in the thesis program.

For the entire list of courses please refer to the Student Handbook
Students are required to take 43 credits and to submit a final project or thesis; 39 credits are required courses and 4 credits are elective courses.
The academic administration of Reichman University reserves the right to make changes to the curriculum.