Game theory and strategy

Frequency: The course will be offered annually beginning in the Spring 2011 semester. Points and prerequisites: The course will carry four points. The prerequisites for this course are Economic Principles II (V31.0002) and Calculus I (V63.0121). The lectures will focus mainly on conceptual material and applications. Properties: The course will meet two times each week for one hour and fifteen minutes each. No unusual audiovisual or technological aids will be used. This course serves as an introduction to game theory as the study of incentives and strategic behavior in collective and interdependent decision making. The course will develop the necessary theoretical tools for the study of game theory, while concurrently introducing applications in areas such as bargaining, competition, auction theory and strategic voting. This is a course indicated for any student with interest in learning how to apply game theoretical analysis to a variety of disciplines. The aim of the course is to provide a mostly applied overview of game theoretical concepts and emphasize their use in real world situations. By the end of the course, the student should have developed tools which will allow her/him to formally analyze outcomes in strategic situations. There will be one midterm and one final exam and approximately 8 problem sets for this class. The midterm and final exam scores count for 30%, and 60% respectively, of your course grade. The problem set score will be calculated ignoring your lowest score during the semester and will count for 10% of the final grade.