Economics~ Behaviour and Data Science

Economics, behaviour and data science is a forward-looking combination that brings together classical economic analysis with the insights of behavioural economics and the quantitative tools of data science. Traditional economics models human beings as rational agents making consistent decisions in their own interest. Behavioural economics challenges this assumption, drawing on psychology to show how cognitive biases, social influences, and situational factors systematically shape human choices in ways that classical models cannot easily capture.

Data science provides the methods, from statistical modelling and machine learning to large-scale data analysis, needed to test economic and behavioural theories against real-world evidence and to extract insights from the data that modern economies generate in vast quantities.

At the University of East Anglia, this three-year full-time programme reflects the growing recognition that economics is most useful when it is empirically grounded and behaviourally informed. You will study the foundations of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory alongside the psychology of decision-making, experimental economics, and the statistical and computational methods used in modern economic research and policy analysis. Skills in working with data, using econometric software, and designing and interpreting economic research will be developed throughout the programme.

UEA has a strong tradition in economics research, including behavioural economics, and students benefit from a research-active academic environment where these questions are being actively investigated.

Graduates from this programme are well suited to careers in economic consultancy, government economic analysis, policy research, financial services, market research, data analytics, and technology companies where economic and behavioural insights are applied to product design and business strategy. The combination of economic theory, behavioural insight, and data skills is particularly valued in public policy contexts, where nudge-based interventions and evidence-based policymaking have become significant areas of government activity. Some graduates continue to postgraduate study in economics, behavioural science, data science, or public policy.