040827 UK Game Theory and Information Economics (MA) (2018S)

The objective of this course is to learn how to master game theory and how to apply it to modelling information. Game theory is the theory of making decisions when outcomes are influenced by others making decisions. Games will be played in class to help gain intuition. There will be real life examples (such as auctions, market entry, public good provision) but the main emphasis is on the methodology, the mathematics of strategic decision making. Information Economics brings in the aspects of how to make strategic choices when there is uncertainty.
Game theory topics we will be covering include
1. Utility, uncertainty, risk, decision making and rationality
2. Games, strategies and timing
3. Dominance, iterated dominance, rationalizability
4. Extensive form games with perfect information, backwards induction
5. Nash equilibrium
6. Subgame perfection, forward induction
7. Repeated games, folk theorem
8. Bayesian games
Information Economics topics we will be covering include
1. Moral hazard
2. Adverse selection

There is a lecture held by me and a tutorial held by Bernhard Kasberger (email bernhard.kasberger@univie.ac.at). The tutorials are practice sessions relating the material of my lecture. Practice sessions are held on Mondays, the lectures are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

There are no formal prerequisites, however it is expected that you have taken an undergraduate game theory course. As a refresher please revise basic material before the course, eg Kokesen & Ok (2007).