Paris 1 / Paris Descartes Master in Economics & Psychology


The Economics and Psychology master program is a joint initiative of the economics department of Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and the psychology department of Université Paris Cité. Research-oriented training in the master is supported by the Paris School of Economics.

It combines teaching at the graduate level to economics and psychology students in the fields of economic psychology and behavioral economics. Please refer to the corresponding categories for detailled information about the overall curriculum, as well as the those for the M1 and the M2 years.

Prospective applicants can find detailed information about the application process in the corresponding section (please carefully check this material before contacting us). If you want to be kept posted of the updates about the current year campaign, let us know here.

 

News

 

[20.12.2023] SAVE THE DATE! The master program will be presented by both faculty and currently enrolled students at the Paris 1 open days (both on site and online) on Feb 3 2024. 

[30.01.2024] The link to attend the presentation at 11am (Paris Time) is available here (meeting ID 929 8836 0543, code: 411166). A virtual meeting room will open at 12am (Paris time) here (meeting ID 995 7496 4528, code 074669).

[20.12.2023] FUNDING. Prospective applicants are welcome to apply to the SMART grant (deadline: Jan 19, 2024).


A few questions and answers about the master:

Q - Why study Economics and Psychology?

A1. from a 1918 Journal of Political Economy paper (our italics): "The only way in which the economist can keep his studies from duplicating the psychologist's work is by taking his psychology from those who have specialized in that field. To rely on the mere fact of choice, regardless of the kind of motives behind it, might seem to take economics out of all dependence on psychology, but it does not really do so, save at the cost of becoming utterly meaningless. The economist may attempt to ignore psychology, but it is a sheer impossibility for him to ignore human nature, for his science is a science of human behavior. Any conception of human nature that he may adopt is a matter of psychology, and any conception of human behavior that he may adopt involves psychological assumptions, whether these be explicit or no. If the economist borrows his conception of man from the psychologist, his constructive work may have some chance of remaining purely economic in character. But if he does not he will not thereby avoid psychology. Rather he will force himself to make his own, and it will be bad psychology." Clark (1918, p.4, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1820785).

A2. "Psychology is really the basis from which any social science must start and in terms of which all fundamental explanation must run." according to the famous economist Joseph A. Schumpeter (1954, cited in  Paul. A. Samuelson: p.27 in History of Economic Analysis, OUP).

 

Q - Why study in Paris? And why in this master?

Future students can refer to the following article about studying in Paris, and in the economics and psychology master in particular:  http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/dec/01/paris-rated-best-student-city-in-the-world

Also see here the tesimony from a 2018 student: https://www.francealumni.fr/en/position/southafrica/news/3025

 

Q - What for? And what do students do afterwards?

A recent overview of alumni placement is available here. A linkedin group, providing an overview of students' career, is also available for current and former students.

 

Q - Why enroll in a research-oriented master program if I don't want to stay in academia?

Because the skills you acquire thanks to research-oriented training are exactly why both academic and non-academic employers want to hire our students:

https://www.investors.com/news/technology/amazon-microsoft-among-techs-that-say-employing-economists-adds-up/

https://www.chronicle.com/article/Amazon-Is-Hiring-PhDs-/241544