Behavioral Institutional Design (Minor)
Program Description
Behavioral Institutional Design is a research program that seeks to enhance our comprehension of the diverse range of human behavior and examine its implications for the optimal design of institutions and policies. There is a growing global interest in behavioral institutional design as evidenced by the growing number of governmental and private sector organizations establishing specialized behavioral units with the purpose of designing evidence-based policies and optimizing internal procedures.
The primary objective of the Minor in Behavioral Institutional Design is to provide students with cutting-edge tools for designing, testing, and assessing policies and interventions using controlled experiments, whether conducted in a laboratory, field setting, or online. This minor will complement the skills and knowledge students have already gained in their majors and provide them with a wide range of comprehensive opportunities.
The curriculum places strong emphasis on rigorous training to develop the necessary skills for comprehending the intricate aspects of behavioral institutional design. The coursework combines quantitative approaches that enable students to design and evaluate interventions, while also equipping them with the ability to analyze experimental data and elucidate complex social phenomena.
The Minor in Behavioral Institutional Design consists of five courses, three of which are mandatory social science courses that lay the foundation for understanding the design of laboratory and field experiments. Students finalize the minor by selecting two electives from a diverse range of offerings available in various programs, including the core curriculum.