Introduction to Game Theory

The course Introduction to Game Theory exposes the students to recent

advances in game theory as they applied to economics and business. As

an introductory course, the mathematical knowledge expected from the

students is minimal, yet the theory is powerful in explaining many

practical behaviors by individuals, households and firms,

In the first part we will introduce Simultaneous Decision-making and

the Normal Form Game. We will use various games to compare behavior

of individuals and firms. We will learn about Nash Equilibrium, its

advantages and disadvantages. We will explore the idea of strict

dominance, and multiple Nash equilibria. We will talk about

Coordination Game, the Battle of the Sexes game, the Zero-Sum Game, etc.

The course Introduction to Game Theory exposes the students to recent

advances in game theory as they applied to economics and business. As

an introductory course, the mathematical knowledge expected from the

students is minimal, yet the theory is powerful in explaining many

practical behaviors by individuals, households and firms,

In the first part we will introduce Simultaneous Decision-making and

the Normal Form Game. We will use various games to compare behavior

of individuals and firms. We will learn about Nash Equilibrium, its

advantages and disadvantages. We will explore the idea of strict

dominance, and multiple Nash equilibria. We will talk about

Coordination Game, the Battle of the Sexes game, the Zero-Sum Game, etc.

Then we will move to Dynamic Interaction among individuals and firms,

the so called Extensive Form Game and the Backward Induction Solution

Mechanism. We will introduce Dynamic Models of Preemption and

Strategic Commitment and discuss other models using the tools

developed in game theory.