Behavioral Economics For Dummies

Part I: Introducing Behavioral Economics: The Science of Making Real-World Choices 7

Chapter 1: Decoding Behavioral Economics 9

Chapter 2: Getting Real about Assumptions 19

Chapter 3: Neuroeconomics: Exploring the Brain for Economic Analysis 41

Chapter 4: Why Incentives and Markets Matter, but Money Isn’t Everything 65

Part II: Understanding Choice 89

Chapter 5: Exploring the Limits to Free Choice 91

Chapter 6: Quick and Simple Heuristics and Real-World Decision Making 107

Chapter 7: How the Framing of Choices Affects Decision Making 131

Chapter 8: How Norms, Peers, History, and Culture Influence Choice 153

Chapter 9: Why Gender, Children, and Age Matter for Economic Analysis 167

Part III: Growing the Economic Pie: The Economic Importance of Ethics, Well-Being, and Culture 181

Chapter 10: Why Smart People Pay Taxes, Recycle, and Even Break the Law 183

Chapter 11: Labor Supply in the Real World 197

Chapter 12: The Black Box of the Firm: Human Relationships and Productivity 215

Chapter 13: The Good Economy: How Ethical Behavior Can Grow the Economy 229

Chapter 14: Why Institutions Matter 243

Part IV: When Bubbles and Busts and Inefficiencies Are Possible: Some Behavioral Insights into the Strange World of Economic Reality 257

Chapter 15: Deciphering Behavioral Finance 259

Chapter 16: Looking into Recessions and Depressions 275

Chapter 17: The Art and Science of Happiness: Can You Be Happy without More Money? 291

Part V: The Part of Tens 309

Chapter 18: Ten (Or So) Key Public Policy Implications of Behavioral Economics 311

Chapter 19: Ten (Or So) Experiments in Behavioral Economics 321

Chapter 20: Ten Decision-Making Lessons from Behavioral Economics 333

Index 341