Master in Behavioral Economics

what will you learn

The course subjects are supported by real-time web conferencing classes, conducted by professors with extensive professional and academic experience in the respective topic, texts and current bibliographic indications. Dynamics, cases and critical analyzes are integral parts of the activities throughout the course, favoring participatory learning.

The course has an integrative discipline whose objective is to provide a communication channel with the course coordination. For this discipline, the inaugural class and presentations by guests of the course coordination are held.

The bibliographic indications include texts in English, requiring instrumental English from the participants.

Decision-making process: leadership and management

This thematic axis aims to present and discuss the subtle forces that drive people's choices, when they decide individually or collectively. The disciplines that integrate it present the main theoretical foundations of the behavioral sciences and how they can be used to build solutions to common problems. The biases present in the decision-making process in complex organizations, the behavioral nature of leadership, and the motivators behind individual decisions in relation to individual well-being will be discussed.

• Fundamentals of Behavioral Economics Tools
• Decision Processes
• Well-being and Happiness
• Persuasion, Leadership and Social Preferences

Communication and Consumption

The thematic axis is centered on the individual, focusing on communication and on the consumer, presenting models that allow understanding and anticipating decisions. The disciplines that integrate it delve into the psychology behind the choices and their dependence on the context. Options architecture techniques that allow creating “nudges” shaping the decisions of individuals are studied and, based on neurosciences, the biological process that is activated in individual choices is discussed.

• Strategic marketing
• Shopper and Consumer Psychology
• Neuroscience Applied to the Market
• Nudging and Choice Architecture

Economy and Finance

The thematic axis integrates the behavioral view into individual economic choices, discussing the paradigm of rational homo economicus and recognizing decision-makers as personas. Rational choice models are discussed from both a micro and macroeconomic perspective and are enriched with the behavioral insights and biases studied in the literature. A highlight are the discussions of topics related to behavioral finance and the impact of relaxing the assumptions of economic rationality. The axis also presents the mandatory discussion of the impact of sustainability on economic development, the relevance of ethics in individual decision and in the application of behavioral sciences.

• Financial Management Applied to Business
• Behavioral Finance
• Consumption, Savings, Indebtedness and Intertemporal Choice
• Environment, Social & Governance (ESG)

Research Methods

The course includes three disciplines of quantitative and experimental methodologies that aim to develop skills to create and evaluate interventions. The purpose is to provide the practical tools for students to create and evaluate actions proving causal evidence with scientific rigor.

• Research and Analysis in Behavioral Science
• Methodology and Design of Experiments
• Data Science: Integration and Application

Completion of course work

With the supervision of an advisor professor, the student will develop a project with practical application of the theoretical references and methodologies addressed throughout the course, which can be applied in their workplace or even aimed at entrepreneurship.

• Applied Completion Project

*At the end of the course, students will present the course conclusion work (TCC) in person to a panel of professors. The presentation takes place at one of the ESPM units, in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro or Porto Alegre.

alumni profile

Graduates of the Master in Behavioral Economics course are expected to have the following qualifications:

• Lead and design projects focusing on the fundamentals and main tools of behavioral economics and behavioral sciences;
• Analyze the differences between behavioral approaches and how they can contribute to the definition of more effective strategies in companies and organizations;
• Investigate consumer behavior from a new perspective and identify the main biases that act when we make choices.
• Critically evaluate the main assumptions and methodologies of this field of research.
• Understand the benefit of testing, measuring, failing, re-testing, failing, re-testing in defining products and strategies in organizations.

for whom it is intended

• Senior analysts, coordinators and leaders, with the potential to take on managerial positions.
• Consultants and freelancers working in the area and who want to improve themselves to serve medium and large companies.
• Companies, advertising and communication agencies that need to train their leadership.
• Coordinators and managers of various business segments.