Game Theory for Economics and Politics (POL144)

The course aims to (1) familiarize students with key concepts of game theory, (2) study strategic interactions at individual, firm, societal, state, and international levels, (3) teach students about different definitions and models of rationality, and (4) provide students with tools to read and understand literature that uses rational choice framework.  By the end of the course students will be able to analyze real world problems using game theoretic tools.

• Introduce students to rational choice framework.  List assumptions and predictions rational choice models make.
• Learn how to model interactions between individuals, firms, bureaucracies, and nation states.
• Learn about different game theoretic models: static games of complete information, static games of incomplete information, dynamic games of complete information, and dynamic games of incomplete information.
• Gain familiarity with key concepts of game theory: complete information, incomplete information, normal form, dynamic form, bargaining, principal-agent relation, mechanism design, adverse selection, moral hazard, conditional probabilities.
• Learn about different solution techniques: backwards induction, IESDS, Nash Equilibria, Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibria, Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibria, Bayesian Nash Equilibria, Perfect Bayesian Equilibria, and Maximin-Minimax Method.
• Hone your skills for working in groups and individually, while facing time constraints.
• Acquire critical thinking, logical reasoning, and problem-solving skills.