the murphy institute tulane university
the exchange
Volume 15, No. 1
Fall 2018
Students Educating Professors I N M Y U PPER-DI V I SION E L E C T I V E P OL I T ICA L E CONOM Y CL A S S ,
Behavioral Economics and Public
Policy, I require all the students to write a creative research paper and present it to the class at the end of the term. Behavioral economics integrates psychology into economics, allowing it to deviate from hard-boiled neo-classical economics. Behavioral economists tell many stories about human foibles and quirky behavior and explore many facets of daily life. In what other single course could you discuss obesity and self-control, altruism, and stock market investing? So the students find it fun. Now, the little secret of the professoriate is that term papers are very useful for the student but typically deadly for the professors to read and grade. In a typical class, undergraduates are still in the initial stages of engaging with the field and have many competing demands on their research and thought time. As a result, it often takes a concerted effort for a professor to work through the essays. L-R: John Wood, Landon Hopkins, David Woodside, and Fiona McMurtry
Papers for behavioral economics tend to be quite a bit more interesting. There are always students,
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