This module of PhD micro is designed (a) to equip students who do not intend to pursue research in economic theory with the main game-theoretic tools used in contemporary economics, and (b) to provide students who plan to pursue research in economic theory a solid grounding in game theory.
The text is
Martin J. Osborne and Ariel Rubinstein, A course in game theory (MIT Press, 1994)(The website for the book has a list of typos and other information you may find useful.)
If you have no background in game theory, you may also find useful my lower-level book An introduction to game theory (Oxford University Press, New York, 2004).
The course covers the following topics.
- Nash equilibrium (Ch. 2 through 2.5)
- Mixed strategy equilibrium (Ch. 3 through 3.3)
- Bayesian games (2.6)
- Extensive games with perfect information (Ch. 6)
- Bargaining games (Chs. 7 and 15)
- Repeated games (Ch. 8)
Problem Sets
The only way to learn analytical material is to do problems! I will assign problems after most classes; they will be taken up in the Tutorial Sessions.Assessment
Your mark in the module will be based on the final examination, which will be held Monday, February 24 from 9:10am to 11am in BA 2175.Your grade in ECO2030 will be the average of your grades in this module and the second module.