Game Theory

Game theory provides a framework that helps to understand and analyse situations where many agents interact in a strategic setting, so that each agent’s well-being depends on the behavior of the other agents. Game-theoretic techniques have been widely used in many sciences, and have been successfully applied in almost every field of economics, including macroeconomics, industrial organization, public economics, and many others. In addition, recent applications of game theory have yielded important insights in many other disciplines, such as political science, law, biology, finance, and computer science. The aim of this course is to introduce the main ideas of game theory at a level suitable for advanced later-year undergraduate students. The theory will be illustrated by way of examples and applications, which will primarily be drawn from economics and political science. While the level of the course will be introductory, and formal mathematical prerequisites are minimal, the presentation of the material will rely on precise definitions and models, as well as rigorous logical reasoning and analysis.