MSc Behavioural and Experimental Economics

Our MSc Behavioural and Experimental Economics is part of our Academic and Professional Programme – designed for people who want to pursue a career as a professional economist within government and industry or move into PhD study.

It’s ideal for you if you have already studied economics. You should have a good undergraduate degree (equivalent to a 2:1 or 1st) with a substantial component of economics, or a graduate diploma in economics.

On this programme you will benefit from intensive research-led training in advanced economic theory, econometrics and research methods, as well as the speciality of Behavioural and Experimental Economics. There are taught modules in Behavioural and Experimental Economics, Economic Theory and Econometrics, and a dissertation towards the end of the year.

Your dissertation gives you the freedom to choose your own topic from within the area of behavioural and experimental economics – enabling you to direct your studies based on your interests and your future goals. Throughout your dissertation you will be supported and supervised by a member of the School of Economics.

We also offer additional support to help you get the most from your Master’s. This includes an optional, intensive pre-sessional course in the fortnight before your programme begins in September. This courseincorporates the techniques of calculus and matrix algebra and an introduction to the specialist econometric software that you will use in your MSc programme. While not compulsory, we strongly recommend you take advantage of this fantastic opportunity.

About

Policy-makers in government and decision-makers in industry are increasingly looking to behavioural economics for insights into decision-making behaviour.

You will have already studied economics, and with this MSc you will take on a specialist, research-training course in this field – blending economic and psychological modelling, complemented by controlled experiments inside and outside the laboratory.

UEA pioneered behavioural and experimental economics in the UK and remains a leading centre in the use of experiments in economics. You will be in the best place to benefit from interaction with researchers in the Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science (CBESS), and get the opportunity to learn to conduct experiments in our state-of-the-art Laboratory for Economic and Decision Research (LEDR).

This Master’s is ideal if you aim to work as a professional economist in government, industry, international agencies or other similar organisations.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

Your modules will typically be assessed by a combination of coursework and examinations. Your exams will be two hours long and will take place during the summer assessment period.

Your coursework will be in a variety of forms – including take-home assignments, seminar presentations, written tests, computer tests and your dissertation (which you will submit at the end of August). In your Behavioural and Experimental Economics II module, the principal assignment will be the design and running of your own economic experiment.

Throughout your course you will be given guidance on your work and constructive feedback to help you improve. You will receive written feedback for all pieces of coursework and further guidance will be available from your module’s organisers.

If you have additional needs due to disabilities such as sensory impairment or learning difficulties such as dyslexia please talk to our Student Support Service about how we can help.

Structure

The MSc Behavioural and Experimental Economics is a one-year course. In each semester you will take three modules, followed by writing your dissertation in the period between June and August.

In the autumn semester you will take Economic Theory I, Econometric Theory, and Behavioural and Experimental Economics I. In spring you will take Economic Theory II, Applied Econometrics, and Behavioural and Experimental Economics II.

Although you will write your dissertation between June and August, you will begin your dissertation module with a sequence of dissertation training lectures and workshops in spring. Here you will discover how to choose a topic, how to access data and search literature, how to reference, and how to analyse quantitative data.

You will be able to take advantage of further dissertation training workshops in late June and early July. These will be held in computer labs, with the objective of providing the types of econometric skills often required in dissertation research.

Teaching and Learning

UEA’s School of Economics is lively, friendly, research-orientated and committed to excellence in teaching. We have an international reputation in many key areas, including theoretical and applied economics. Our research interests include behavioural and experimental economics, competition economics, environmental policy, conflict, contests and corporate behaviour, and finance and financial markets.

The teaching on each of your modules will be spread over two semesters. In a typical module, you will have two hours of lectures and one hour of seminars per week. Your seminars are more interactive than lectures and provide you with an opportunity to raise questions arising from lectures.

In your econometric modules, your seminars will take place in computer labs, where you will learn how to conduct econometric analysis using specialist econometric software.

You will also become practiced in independent study, spending time working on coursework assignments, preparing for seminars, and doing your own wider reading.

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Assessment for Year 1

Your modules will typically be assessed by a combination of coursework and examinations. Your exams will be two hours long and will take place during the summer assessment period.

If you have additional needs due to disabilities such as sensory impairment or learning difficulties such as dyslexia please talk to our Student Support Service about how we can help.

Compulsory Modules

APPLIED ECONOMETRICS

Code ECO-7001B

Credits 20

This module builds on the material covered in the Autumn Semester modules Financial Econometrics, Econometric Methods, and Econometric Theory. The approach is more advanced than Financial Econometrics and Econometric Methods, and more applied than Econometric Theory. Many students find the material useful when they embark on empirical dissertations in the summer. Broadly, the module is divided into two halves: time series methods (including ARIMA modelling, stationarity testing, ARCH and GARCH models, VAR models and Granger causality testing, cointegration); cross section and panel data methods, models for treatment effects, and models for binary and ordinal outcomes.

ECONOMETRIC THEORY

Code ECO-7002A

Credits 20

This module focuses on various theoretical aspects within the linear regression framework using matrix algebra, complemented by simulations and applications to provide more intuition. A specialist econometrics software is used throughout, allowing a better understanding of the theoretical material using real world data and simulations. After a review of fundamental concepts in Econometrics, the module progresses to a detailed discussion of the multiple linear regression model (MLR), focusing on the theory of estimation, inference, and other important issues, such as, model misspecification and models that involve nonlinearities. The properties of the OLS estimator are discussed in detail, and simulated examples show all the adverse consequences on these properties if certain assumptions in the data or the population do not hold. Real world applications are considered, discussing whether these assumption hold in reality. For example, the presence and consequences of having non-spherical errors is discussed, focusing on the problem of heteroscedasticity. Moreover, special attention is paid on the problem of endogeneity, while the instrumental variable approach is presented as the main strategy to deal with it.

ECONOMIC THEORY I

Code ECO-7003A

Credits 20

This is an advanced module in microeconomic theory, designed for postgraduate students with a strong background in economics. The topics covered in this module include the duality approach to demand theory, firm theory, general equilibrium theory, game theory, choice under uncertainty, agency theory and the economics of asymmetric information. The rational-choice foundations of microeconomics are also critically examined.

ECONOMIC THEORY II

Code ECO-7019B

Credits 20

IN TAKING THIS MODULE YOU CANNOT TAKE ECO-7016B IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT STUDENTS TAKE ECO-7003A IN THE AUTUMN SEMESTER. The module is about modern macroeconomic theory where economies and not their parts are studied. The focus is consequently on the overall performance of the economy rather than on the functioning of particular parts of the economy. The module uses dynamic general equilibrium models where consumers, firms and governments are modelled as forward-looking agents who make the best of the economic environment they live in.

BEHAVIOURAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS I

Code ECO-7021A

Credits 20

This module provides an introduction to experimental economics. We consider why economists sometimes choose to conduct experiments, the kinds of insights they can give us, and the various kinds of experiments that have been conducted. We will cover the insights from experimental economics in several areas, such as individual decision making, markets, coordination, negotiation, charitable giving, public goods games, and games with pre-play communication. In this module, you will develop the following transferable skills: 1. Presentation skills - you will present path breaking work in the field to your peers. 2. Critical thinking skills - you will write a critical review of cutting-edge work. 3. Writing skills - you will learn to distil the essence of existing work with a view to discovering what you can build on yourself. 4. Research skills- finally, based on your critical reading of the current state of the art of the field, you will design your own research experiment.

BEHAVIOURAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS II

Code ECO-7022B

Credits 20

This module is a continuation of Behavioural and Experimental Economics I. In the first part, we describe and discuss further insights from Behavioural Economics. In the second part, we learn about experimental design and methodology. You formulate your own behavioural research questions and hypotheses, and develop an experimental design for collecting and analysing data.

ECONOMICS DISSERTATION (60 CREDITS)

Code ECO-7023X

Credits 60

Economics Dissertation is the “icing on the cake” of an Economics MSc. It is a module that brings together the skills that you have learnt throughout your degree programme and applies these skills to study a particular topic of your interest. This module gives you an opportunity to spend a period of 2 or 3 months working exclusively on a topic of your own choice, at your own pace, with guidance from a supervisor. The module commences with a sequence of “dissertation training” lectures during the Spring Semester, including such themes as choosing a topic, accessing data, searching the literature, referencing, and qualitative data analysis. There are further dissertation training lectures during late June and early July, held in computer labs, with the objective of providing the types of econometric skills often required in dissertation research. The Econometric software STATA is used, the same as used in taught modules in Econometrics. At the end of the Spring semester, you will submit a research proposal stating the research question you would like to address and proposing a suitable methodology. You can also select to work on a dissertation topic either with a business, charity or other organisation. In all cases, it is your responsibility to come up with a research proposal although you are encouraged to speak with instructors and the PG Course Director for advice and guidance. On the basis of your proposal, a suitable supervisor will be allocated to you. At least three meetings with the supervisor should take place between May - July. The total contact time over these meetings should be at least three hours. At the first meeting, the research proposal is discussed. By the time of the third and final meeting, you should ideally have supplied a first draft of the dissertation for your supervisor to provide feedback on. The deadline for the dissertation is at the end of August and the word limit for dissertations is either 8,000 or 12,000, depending on which MSc you are taking. If you want to work on a dissertation topic with a business, charity or other organisation you must get your dissertation topic pre-approved by the PG Course Director.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.

Entry Requirements

Degree classification

2.1 or equivalent

Degree subject

Economics OR a quantitative degree subject and relevant work experience (e.g. economic consultancy, economic research, economic/financial/market/consumer analyst, economic/financial services, policy).

Additional entry requirements

Applicants should normally have a good undergraduate degree from a recognised higher education institution. The University will also take into account the employment experience of applicants where relevant.

If you do not meet the academic requirements for this course, you may be able to study one of the International Graduate Diploma programmes offered by our partner INTO UEA. These programmes guarantee progression to selected masters degrees if students achieve the appropriate grade. For more details please click here:

International Graduate Diploma in Economics

Students for whom english is a foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 6.0 (minimum 5.5 in only two components with 6.0 in the others)
PTE (Pearson): 64 (minimum 59 in two components only with 64 in the other two)

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests

INTO University of East Anglia

International Graduate Diploma in International Development

INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk

Intakes

This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. The annual intake for this course is in September each year.

Admissions Live Chat

Carbon Labelling

New research suggests that an initiative to show consumers which products are more environmentally friendly needs to be easy to understand to be effective.

MSc BEHAVIOURAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS