- Syllabus – EconS 503, Spring 2020
- Class Slides (classified by topics):
- Game Theory
- Introduction to games and their representation.
- Dominance solvable games: application of IDSDS and IDWDS.
- Pure strategy Nash equilibrium (psNE):
- Mixed strategy Nash equilibrium (msNE):
- Strictly competitive games, and max-min strategies.
- Sequential-move games, and subgame perfect equilibrium (SPNE).
- Strategic pre-commitment.
- Bargaining games over finite and infinite periods.
- Repeated games:
- Games of incomplete information – Bayesian Nash equilibrium (BNE).
- BNE in games with continuous action spaces:
- More applications of BNE with continuous action spaces (Auction Theory):
- Auction Theory-I: Paper and Slides
- Auction Theory-II: The Revenue Equivalence Theorem.
- Auction Theory III: Common value auctions.
- More applications of BNE – Information aggregation among several players.
- From Bayesian Nash Equilibrium (BNE) to Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium (PBE): Link and Handout.
- A systematic procedure for finding all pure-strategy PBEs: Paper and Slides.
- Applications of PBE:
- How to find semi-separating PBEs (involving mixed strategies):
- Cheap-talk games:
- Signaling games in which both players (sender and receiver) are privately informed about their own type.
- Equilibrium refinement criteria (the “Intuitive Criterion” and the “Divinity Criterion”).
- Signaling games with continuous action spaces:
- Contract theory.
- Chapter 10 (Contract Theory) – All slides
- Moral hazard:
- Adverse selection and screening:
- General equilibrium theory – All slides.
- Mechanism design:
- Social choice theory:
- Weekly review sessions (practice exercises with answer keys):
- Basic elements of game theory
- Nash equilibrium
- Subgame perfect equilibrium
- Repeated games
- Bayesian Nash equilibrium
- Perfect Bayesian equilibrium (PBE) and signaling
- PBEs and the application of Cho and Kreps’ Intuitive Criterion
- Cheap talk games and labor market signaling
- Moral Hazard
- Adverse Selection-I
- Adverse Selection-II
- Adverse Selection-III
- General Equilibrium
- Mechanism Design
- Social Choice Theory
- For the section of game theory and contract theory, you can find more explanations and examples in my book, Advanced Microeconomic Theory: An Intuitive Approach with Examples, Link and in the workbook with answer keys, Link.
- For the section of game theory, you can find more exercises (with answers) in my book: Strategy and Game Theory, Practice Exercises with Answers. Springer-Verlag. Link.
- Homework assignments:
- Homework #1
- Exams:
- Game Theory
