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Regular version of the site
Bachelor 2021/2022

Sociology of Financial Behavior

Type: Elective course
Area of studies: Economics
When: 3 year, 1, 2 module
Mode of studies: offline
Open to: students of one campus
Instructors: Olga E. Kuzina
Language: English
ECTS credits: 4
Contact hours: 64

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The «Sociology of consumer finance» Bachelor Program is developed according to the standard educational requirements of the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education «National Research University «Higher School of Economics» (HSE). Students are supposed to be familiar with Contemporary Sociology in a Global Age, Introduction to Probability Theory and Statistics and Economics.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • The main goal of this unit is to develop a critical, reflexive, and interdisciplinary approach to key problems in contemporary research on financial behaviour of households.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • to know conceptual and operational definitions of financial inclusion/exclusion and the results of cross-country variation in household access to financial services
  • to know conceptual and operational definitions of financial literacy and financial capability, as well as the results of international comparisons of financial literacy of individuals.
  • to know retirement-income systems across the world, research on pension wealth and household savings, and studies on retirement adequacy.
  • to know the causes and long-run macroeconomic implications of the rise in household indebtedness.
  • to know theoretical approaches and empirical research on the control and allocation of money within households, systems of money management in the families
  • to know theoretical models of households financial behaviour which are developed in economic sociology
  • to know theoretical models of households portfolio behaviour which are developed in economic theory
  • to know theoretical models of households savings behaviour which are developed in behavioural economics
  • to know theoretical models of households savings behaviour which are developed in economic psychology
  • to know theoretical models of households savings behaviour which are developed in economic theory
  • to understand and interpret macro and micro statistics on household incomes and savings
  • to understand the notion of trust, conceptual and operational definitions, the role of state regulation on financial markets in creating trust to financial institutions
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • The main concepts and definitions of financial behaviour of households. Conceptual and operational defenitions
  • Economic models of personal savings
  • Economic models of portfolio choice
  • Psychological approach to studying savings behaviour of household
  • Behavioral economics of personal finance
  • Social embeddednes of financial behaviour of individuals and households
  • Family budget management
  • Trust to financial institutions
  • Access to financial services, financial inclusion, saving motives
  • Financial literacy and financial capability of individuals
  • Household retirement strategies
  • The sociology of consumer credit
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Test
  • non-blocking Presentation
    One per semester
  • non-blocking Class activity
    Every class
  • non-blocking Exam
    Online format
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • 2021/2022 2nd module
    0.25 * Presentation + 0.1 * Class activity + 0.25 * Test + 0.4 * Exam
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Deaton, A. (1991). Saving and Liquidity Constraints. Econometrica, (5), 1221. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.ecm.emetrp.v59y1991i5p1221.48
  • Deaton, A. (1992). Understanding Consumption. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.b.oxp.obooks.9780198288244
  • Denizer, C., Wolf, H. C., & Ying, Y. (2000). Household Savings in Transition Economies. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.45A1AEDC
  • Mental budgeting and the management of household finance. (2011). Journal of Economic Psychology, 32(4), 546–555. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsnar&AN=edsnar.oai.library.wur.nl.wurpubs.419402
  • Paul R. Gregory, Manouchehr Mokhtari, & Wolfram Schrettl. (1999). Do The Russians Really Save That Much? - Alternate Estimates From The Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. The Review of Economics and Statistics, (4), 694. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465399558418
  • Shefrin, H. M., & Thaler, R. H. (1988). The Behavioral Life-Cycle Hypothesis. Economic Inquiry, (4), 609. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.oup.ecinqu.v26y1988i4p609.43
  • Shorrocks, A. F. (1975). The Age-Wealth Relationship: A Cross-Section and Cohort Analysis. The Review of Economics and Statistics, (2), 155. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.tpr.restat.v57y1975i2p155.63
  • Skoufias, E. (2004). Consumption smoothing during the economic transition in Bulgaria. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.6AA15472
  • Souleles, N. S. (2002). Consumer response to the Reagan tax cuts. Journal of Public Economics, (1), 99. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.eee.pubeco.v85y2002i1p99.120

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Richard H. Thaler. (2018). From Cashews to Nudges: The Evolution of Behavioral Economics. American Economic Review, (6), 1265. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.108.6.1265
  • Зелизер, В. (2010). Human Values and the Market: The Case of Life Insurance and Death in 19th-Century America (translated by E. Berdysheva) ; Человеческие ценности и рынок: страхование жизни и смерть в Америке XIX века (перевод Е. С. Бердышевой). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.8D1A9859

Presentation

  • Syllabus

Authors

  • KUZINA OLGA EVGENEVNA