Teaching

PUBAFRS4010: Decision Making

Course Description:

This course examines how people make decisions and how the process of making decisions affects public policy and management outcomes. Important decision makers include policymakers, policy analysts, public and nonprofit managers, front-line workers, as well as the citizens who are often the target of public and nonprofit interventions. In addition to reviewing the rational ideal of decision-making often emphasized in policy analysis and economic models of organization, this course draws on scholarship from psychology, sociology, political science, management, and economics that examines how and why human beings so often deviate from this classic model. This course also considers how one might apply these insights in the design and implementation of policies and programs in the public and nonprofit sectors.

The course is divided into three sections. The first section reviews the rational decision-making model and a normative framework for making decisions under conditions of uncertainty. Here, the course most closely draws from economics and probability theory, reflecting System 2 thinking to inform decisions. The second section of the course engages the behavioral aspects of how people actually make decisions, drawing insights from System 1 judgement processes. Here, the course draws heavily from psychology with applications to public sector decisions. The third section of the course concludes with an examination of different approaches to improve public and non-profit sector decision making.

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