Mathematical Models for Individual Choices

Catalog description

This is an elective course which introduces students with the often called 'art' of building mathematical models to simulate and forecast consumers choices. Consciously or unconsciously, we make choice every moment of our lives. Predicting what drives consumers choices is a key question in several disciplines such as transport, economics, sociology, psychology, marketing, environment. The course provides students with knowledge on the mathematical models most commonly used to simulate and forecast individual choices, starting with the very popular discrete choice models (based on the neoclassical economic assumption of rational decision makers) and extending them to account for several effect of bounded rationality. Students will learn how to specify and estimate these models and how to evaluate which model provides the best representation of the phenomenon under study. The theoretical part is supported by an extensive empirical work, using real sets of data. The software Panda Biogeme is used for this purpose and thought as part of the practical work.