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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Economics : Economics

Undergraduate Course: Economics of Strategic Behaviour (ECNM10013)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Economics CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits40 ECTS Credits20
SummaryThis course is about economic decisions that involve conflict and interdependency in an essential way. Situations in which what one person, or firm, or government does affects the opportunities, profits, and welfare of others, and vice versa, are ubiquitous in the real world e.g., bidding for a house, negotiating a wage rise, introducing a new product, setting macroeconomic targets. New insights have been gained into these problems by the application of game theory. This can be defined as the study of models of conflict, and cooperation, between rational decision-makers who know what they want and do their best to get it.
Course description This course is concerned with the analysis of economic problems that involve strategic interaction. The principal tool in this analysis will be the theory of games. The purpose of this course is to introduce the basic concepts of game theory and show how they can be of use in the analysis of economic problems and policy issues.

Topics covered include:

Static games with complete information, Basic concepts. Nash equilibrium. Dominant strategies. Mixed strategies. Examples: Cournot, "tragedy of the commons", tennis.

Dynamic games with complete information: Games in extensive form. Subgame perfection. Timing, commitment. Examples: policy credibility, repeated games.

Additional Topics: evolutionary game theory, matching

Static games with incomplete information: Bayesian approach to games of asymmetric information; Examples: auctions.

Dynamic games with incomplete information: Perfect Bayesian equilibrium; Examples: job market signalling, reputation, credibility.

The course is taught through a programme of lectures and tutorials. Learning-by-doing, through problem solving and discussion of exercise sets, is an important ingredient of the course.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Topics in Microeconomics (ECNM10070)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking Economics of Strategic Behaviour 1 (ECNM10032)
Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Full Year
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 400 ( Lecture Hours 40, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 6, Summative Assessment Hours 3, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 343 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 70 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) A 3 hour degree exam in May/June (70%) and two take home problem sets (one per semester) each contributing 15% to the final grade.
Feedback Not entered
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)3:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. A broad knowledge and understanding of key principles of static and dynamic game theory in an incomplete information settings, and associated mathematical and statistical techniques, along with applications and/or policy implications of those models and a deeper understanding of recent research activity in some more specialised areas.
  2. Research and investigative skills such as problem framing and solving and the ability to assemble and evaluate complex evidence and arguments.
  3. Communication skills in order to critique, create and communicate understanding.
  4. Personal effectiveness through task-management, time-management, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to new situations, personal and intellectual autonomy through independent learning.
  5. Practical/technical skills such as, modelling skills (abstraction, logic, succinctness), qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Reading List
Steven Tadelis, Game Theory: An Introduction.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills See Learning Outcomes
KeywordsESBfull
Contacts
Course organiserDr Ed Hopkins
Tel: (0131 6)50 3061
Email: Ed.Hopkins@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Dawn Hutcheon
Tel: (0131 6)51 5958
Email: Dawn.Hutcheon@ed.ac.uk
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