•to learn how social relations, norms, values, attitudes and institutions emerge and how they effect human behaviour, both from an economic and a sociological point of view
•to apply the theories and concepts learned in the course to think about social issues, both from an economic and from a sociological point of view

Economic behaviour is generally situated in a social environment. The course “Economics and Sociology” focuses on the role played by social relations, norms, habits etc. in economic life. Sociologists and psychologists have criticized the economic approach for not taking into account the influence of tradition, social norms and habits in economic analyses. Economists claim that the economic approach is also useful in explaining human behaviour and social interactions in settings that are not traditionally covered by economics, such as marriage, education, religion, neighbourhoods etc. and have responded to the critique of sociologists and psychologists by enriching their models to include psychological factors and interpersonal relations. In the course various topics at the borderline between economics and sociology are discussed looking at the difference in perspective that sociology/psychology and economics take. Topics covered are for example the division of labour, love and marriage, paternalism, etc.

A reading list containing a few classical papers and recent literature concerning the topics mentioned

Intermediate level of economics
an advanced level of English