ETH Zürich

Autumn Semester 2013

Behavioral-Environmental Economics and Policy

 
Elisabeth Gsottbauer

 

CONTENT Overviev Goal Meeting time and location Instructor Format Requirements Literature

Overview:

The course provides an overview of behavioral economics and its application to environmentally relevant behaviors. It pays special attention to behavioral-psychological evidence and discusses related experimental laboratory and field evidence for a variety of themes: cooperation and public goods, social motivation (non-monetary incentives, crowding-out), status and conspicuous consumption, risk perception and prospect theory, fairness preferences, heuristics and biases, framing, and impatience and discounting.

 
Goal:

The goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the relationship between behavioral economics and environmental policy and address its implication in areas like climate change, sustainable energy consumption, and biodiversity loss. This will involve discussing a number of experimental applications and insights.

 
Meeting time and location:

Time: Wednesday 13:15 – 14:00. First session: 18, September 2013.

Place: ETH, Room IFW A34

 
Instructor:

Dr. Elisabeth Gsottbauer
Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED)
Chair of Economics
CLD C10, Clausiusstrasse 37
+41 44 632 5647 phone

Office hours: email elisabeth.gsottbauer@econ.gess.ethz.ch for an appointment.

Format:

Each week one student needs to choose a paper from the growing behavioral-environmental economics literature and present it in class (“Presenter”). In total we will cover 12 research papers (see literature list). In addition, each student needs to discuss one of the presentations of their fellow course participants (“Discussant”). The grade will be based on the presentation (50%) and discussion (50%).

a) a) Presentation

Each presentation needs to be around 25 minutes and should focus answering the following five questions:

1. Which behavioral factors are studied?
   The student is expected to include some background literature on the general behavioral phenomena which is studied (additional references will be given) and add a general explanation of this in the presentation/handout.
2. Which environmental problem is tackled?
3. Which experimental design was chosen?
4. What are the main results?
5. Which environmental policy conclusions are drawn?

The presentation should end with a critical reflection of the paper (e.g. discuss limitations of research design, practical applicability of obtained results etc.). It is recommended to use a visual device for the presentation (powerpoint, handout, etc.).

b) Discussion

Discussants are required to prepare 5 minutes of critical reflection of the research paper and presentation. On the one hand this should provide critical input on the given presentation of the student (content and structure), while on the other hand some positive/negative sides of the paper need to be pointed out. The discussion should be the basis of a general discussion and thus it is recommended preparing some questions for the audience. The discussant is expected to lead this discussion (15 minutes). In addition, discussants are required to hand in a 1 ½ page (11pt, Times New Roman, 1 ½ spaced) including a short summary of the paper and their own discussion and positive/negative critique. The paper need to be handed in on the same day of the corresponding session (via email to the Instructor).

 
Requirements:

Students need a sound knowledge of environmental economics. Regular participation is mandatory. The course is limited to 13 students. Papers and roles (presenters and discussants) will be assigned in the first session.

Literature:

 Update: 2013/09/25