Week 9
Information, Incentives, and Behavioral Anomalies; Climate Change
In Week 9, we will wrap up the lecture on Information, Incentives, and Behavioral Anomalies and then transition to our new topic: Balancing the Present and Future: The Discount Rate. This module will directly support your Team Project β Climate Change and the Individual, helping you apply the concepts to real-world analysis.
βοΈ Classwork
- Classwork 8: Information Problems and Behavioral Anomalies
π View Classwork
Team Project β Climate Change and the Individual
Team Project Schedule
- Week 10 (October 31, Friday, 11:59 P.M.): Project Kickoff Report
- Week 15 (Dec 1β5): Team Presentations
- Week 17 (December 16, Tuesday, 11:59 P.M.): Project Proposal
Project topics should focus on climate change actions, advocacy, awareness, and outreach. For additional ideas, consider the problems and possibilities.
Each team will consist of three students. Teams must develop a clear research question for their term paper. The proposal may be theoretical, empirical, or a combination of both. For empirical work, the proposed dataset must be approved in advance by Byeong-Hak Choe.
Expectations for the Proposal
Your teamβs proposal should critically examine a climate change issue by:
1. Explaining the central dilemma facing society.
2. Identifying the key questions that must be addressed to develop solutions, while acknowledging the trade-offs between objectives.
3. Presenting appropriate evidence to analyze the competing interests involved.
4. Formulating policy recommendations that logically follow from your analysis.
Evaluation Criteria
Team project will be evaluated on:
- Quality of the research question
- Quality of the oral presentation
- Strength of the economic analysis
- Quality of the modeling analysis
- Peer evaluation of other studentsβ presentations
- Team Project Score \[ \begin{align} &\quad\text{(Team Project Score)}\\ &= \;\;\; 0.05 \times \text{(Peer Evaluation)}\\ &\quad + 0.10 \times \text{(Project Kickoff Report)}\\ &\quad + 0.50 \times \text{(Presentation)}\\ &\quad + 0.35 \times \text{(Proposal)}. \end{align} \]
Note: Any change in team membership or research topic requires approval from Byeong-Hak Choe.
Additional Opportunity
Your team is encouraged to participate in the campus-wide Ideas that Matter Student Challenge in Spring 2026, aligned with the 2025β26 theme Climate Change and the Individual.
π Recommended Reading
- The following course material summarizes the science of climate change and its impact on the Earth:
- Earth 103: Earth in the Future, Pennsylvania State University
π¬ Discussion
Welcome to our Week 9 Discussion Board! π
This space is designed for you to engage with your classmates about the material covered in Week 9.
Whether you are looking to delve deeper into the content, share insights, or have questions about the content, this is the perfect place for you.
If you have any specific questions for Byeong-Hak (@bcecon) or peer classmate (@GitHub-Username) regarding the Week 9 materials or need clarification on any points, donβt hesitate to ask here.
Letβs collaborate and learn from each other!