Theme of this year:

How can we trigger sustainable behavior?

General Idea
Research from the fields of economics and psychology suggest that behavioral, information and monetary interventions can be effective tools to promote sustainable resource use.
In this seminar we will provide an insight into the existing empirical evidence for interventions that are primarily aimed at resource-conserving behavior. In the last decade in particular, a growing strand of research has produced very interesting studies at the intersection of behavioral economics, resource use, and sustainability. In this seminar, we will look at the current literature by reviewing exciting studies from the last few years in detail (what are the results, what is the contribution to the literature, what is the methodology, why is the study special, what can we learn from it, what was the influence on the literature). Around these papers, we will additionally briefly review the literature before ("standing on the shoulders of giants") and after the publications. We will also discuss avenues for future research. We will discuss studies on sustainable lifestyles especially in the areas of mobility (transportation) and energy as well as water and food consumption.

Learning Outcomes
Students improve their ability to understand and evaluate scientific literature. They also deepen their knowledge of behavioral, experimental and econometric methods by studying the methodology of relevant peer-reviewed papers. During the seminar, students learn about current topics in behavioral, experimental and sustainability economics, learn to write a term paper and improve their presentation skills. In particular, students will understand how scientific papers are written, how to identify weaknesses in the current literature and how to develop their own research ideas. Students should be enabled to conduct their own research, an important prerequisite for writing their master’s thesis.

Content
The aim of this seminar is to prepare students to critically assess topics in behavioral, experimental and sustainability economics, in particular from an empirical perspective. Seminar participants are expected to make a presentation and write a term paper on a topic agreed upon with the instructor.
Beyond summarizing and evaluating the literature, the studies and empirical methods should be examined and critiqued to identify where gaps in knowledge exist. In particular, students are expected to develop and outline their own research idea.