FALL 2005
| Instructor: Mort Webster | Office: Abernethy Hall 217 |
| Course Time: T-TH 3:30-4:45 pm | Email: mort@unc.edu |
| Class Location: Hamilton
Hall 517 |
Phone: 843-5010 |
| Office Hours: Tues & Thurs 11am-12pm, 3:30-5pm, and by appointment |
Assignment #1 - Rational Choice Framework
Assignment #2 - Ethical Frameworks
Assignment #3 - Decision Analysis Practice Problems
Assignment #4 - Application of
Decision Analysis
and Game Theory
Term Paper Description
Other Handouts:
Guide to Leading
Discussions and Generating Discussion Questions
Guidance on
Reading Essence of Decision
On-Line Readings (PDF files): [Not
on E-Reserve]
Thursday September 8
Tuesday, September 13 - Consumer Theory
Kreps Chs.
1&2 "An Overview" and "Preferences and Choices"
Kreps Ch. 3.1
"Von Neumann-Morgenstren Expected Utility
Kreps Ch. 3.4
"Subjective Probability"
Kreps Ch.3.4
& 3.6 "Problems", "Normative Dimensions"
Tversky
& Kahneman (1974) "Judgement Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and
Biases"
Sen (1977) “Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioural Foundations of Economic Theory”
Thursday, September 15 - Social ChoiceTuesday, September 20
– Public Choice
Buchanan and Tullock (1971)
The Calculus of Consent
Ch.
1: “Introduction“
Ch.
2: “The Individualistic Postulate”
Ch.
3: “Politics and the Economic Nexus”
Ch.
4: “Individual Rationality in Social Choice”
Ch.
5: “The Organization of Human Activity”
Thursday, September 22 - Collective Action
Buchanan and
Tullock (1971)
The Calculus of Consent
read: Ch. 10: “Simple
Majority Voting”
optional:
Ch. 9: “The Structure of
the Models”
Ch. 11: “Simple Majority
Voting and the Theory of Games”
Mancur Olson, The
Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups
Ch. 1: "A Theory of Groups
and Organizations"
Tuesday, October 11
S.E. Frost, Basic
Teachings
of the Great Philosophers, Ch.
7: “Man and the State” (pp. 175-206)
Thursday, October 13
James Rachels, b. James
Rachels,
The Elements of Moral Philosophy
Ch. 7: “The
Utilitarian Approach” (pp. 96 – 106) and
Ch. 8: “The
Debate over Utilitarianism” (pp. 107 – 121).
Tuesday,
October 25
Robert Nozick (1974) Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Ch. 3 "Moral Constraints and the State"
Thursday, October 27
Hausman and McPherson (1993) "Taking Ethics Seriously:
Economics and Contemporary Philosophy"
Journal
of Economic Literature 31
(2): 671-731.
Tuesday November 22 - Multiattribute Utility Functions
Clemen Chapters 15
and 16
Tuesday November 29 - Application of Decision Analysis
"The
curious role of "learning" in climate policy: Should we wait for more
data?"
Mort Webster. The Energy Journal; 2002; 23, 2; pg. 97.
Tuesday, December 6 - In-Class exercise
Apply DA to HW cases
Thursday, December 8 - Course
Wrap-up
Course wrap-up and evaluations
Social Choice
Sen(1977)
"Social Choice Theory: A Re-examination"
Alternative Theories and Lenses for Public Policy
Shulock
(1999): “The Paradox of Policy Analysis: If it is not used, Why Do
We Produce So Much of It?”
Including Ethics in Economics?
Hausman
and McPherson (1993): “Taking Ethics Seriously: Economics and
Contemporary
Philosophy.”