Our Mission

The Behavioral Economics Theory and Research (BETR) Collective is an applied behavioral science club that operates across Penn’s 12 schools. Launched in Spring 2022, we will offer case competitions, networking opportunities, client projects, and professional development through guest speakers and other co-curricular activities. The Collective aims to engage with the local community and explore how behavioral science can enhance decision making across a wide range of organizations and fields.

Behavioral Economics & Behavioral Science

Behavioral Science is a term that umbrellas all social and biological studies into human behavior, including sociology, cultural anthropology, psychology, neuroscience, etc. This large field is closer to the academic side of scientific research, gathering data on human behavior purely for the sake of knowing, with some paths frequently trodden into applied science.

Behavioral Economics is a narrower study that researches and describes economic decision-making. These studies show that we are much less rational, stable, and selfish than normative theory suggests. It is commonly regarded that behavioral economics is a sub-science underneath the umbrella of behavioral science, as it uses methodologies typically derived and influenced by behavioral science studies like social psychology. Behavioral economics is a refinement that focuses on consumers and businesses specifically, taking behavioral science techniques and exploring the science behind human decision-making in real, commercial, and industrial environments.