10 August 2021

The main objective of this 5-hours course is to present theoretical foundations about Behavioural and Experimental Methods and to train participants on the practical tools to design behavioral intervention frameworks in STATA.

More generally, the workshop prioritizes three main objectives for participants: (i) introduce theoretical foundations on Behavioral and Experimental methods, (ii) introduce real-life behavioral interventions using experimental techniques guided by theory, and (iii) acquire practical coding skills in the design and econometric analysis of these interventions (i.e. STATA). In sum, the workshop will review theoretical as well as practical procedures and commands on descriptive and treatment analysis.

Part One (8-10 AM-CET) : Theoretical Fundamentals / 2.5 Hours

1. Historical development
2. Differences between classical and behavioral theory
3. Areas of application
4. Relevance in modern public policies

5. Choices and Preferences
Loss aversion, time inconsistency, social norms, reciprocity, status quo, etc.
6. Beliefs
Overconfidence, optimism bias, availability bias, representativity, etc.

Part Two (10.15-12.15 AM-CET): Experimentation / 2.5 Hours

1. What is Nudging?
2. Toolkit of instruments
Engagement Mechanisms, Default Options ( defaults ), Social Comparison (descriptive and prescriptive), Reminders, Framing

3. Methodological note
Framework on definition, diagnosis, design, and evaluation to implement behavioral interventions
4. Practical exercise of case-study
• Real-life behavioral intervention, such as the evaluation of whether a system of message reminders can improve the treatment against life-threatening diseases
• Exploration of data: outcome variables, patient-level and household characteristics, and descriptive results
• Resolution of exercise in STATA: showcasing commands for balancing, descriptive treatment analysis, and econometric robustness.

5. Q&A and concluding remarks

Workshop Moderator

Dr. Luis Artavia-Mora

Luis Artavia-Mora is Doctor in Behavioural and Development economics. He has experience in
the design, implementation and analysis of experiments, evidence-based social interventions and
applied-econometric research. He obtained a PhD degree at Erasmus University of Rotterdam, and
he combines six years of experience in private consulting and academic research in international
development projects. During his career, he has participated in University Councils, and lead the
design and teaching of various post-graduate courses in human behaviour, social interventions,
and mathematics. He is a citizen of the United States and Costa Rica.

Benefits

Workshop material, codes, and recorded videos (online view only) will be shared with participants.
Earn an MSR certified certificate and enhance your career and employability skills.
Learn one of the emerging and widely used approaches for data analysis and econometric modeling.
Get trained on Stata coding and how to design a behavioral intervention framework.
Start from scratch, no prerequisites are needed.