Class Time: Tu, Th at 2:00 p.m.
Class Location: G-10 Caldwell Hall
Office: 527 Brooks Hall
Telephone: 542-3673,
messages can be left at 542-1311.
E-mail: trandel@terry.uga.edu
Office Hours: Monday 2:30-4:00;
Wednesday 10:30-12:00 and 2:30-4:00 (and by appointment)
Course Description:
This course introduces several basic
concepts from "game theory" that can be applied to many situations
involving "strategically-interdependent decisions."
Such situations are those in which the results of your actions
depend in part on the actions of others. In making decisions in
these situations, you must think about what others will do; they, in
turn, will be thinking about what you will do; you'll be thinking
about what they are thinking about, and so on.
The approach of game theory (a field of study that has developed
over the past 50-plus years) can be used to analyze strategic
situations (including their elements of conflict and cooperation),
to understand the behavior of agents involved in such situations,
and to suggest how to make better strategic decisions.
This course emphasizes applications of game theory (along with
some formal theory) and will make extensive use of examples and
cases drawn from business, economics, politics, sports, warfare,
biology, and current events.
Text: Games of Strategy
by Avinash Dixit and Susan Skeath, plus other readings.
Tests: Two in-class exams, to
be given on Sept. 30 and Nov. 11 (both are Thursdays), and a
comprehensive final exam, to be given at 3:30 p.m. on
Thursday, Dec. 16.
Homeworks: Two assignments,
due on Sept. 23 and Nov. 4 (both are Thursdays).
Experiments:
The class often begin with an "experiment" (or a "game") that
is designed to illustrate strategic analysis. Students earn points
from these experiments; a running total of points earned is
provided.
Complete Syllabus: A complete
(paper) syllabus, with information on grade determination, etc.,
is available from the instructor.
Class Schedule:
Introduction
D&S, chs. 1 & 2.
Sequential Games
D&S, ch. 3.
Simultaneous-Move Games
D&S, ch. 4.
Matthew Rabin, ``Incorporating Fairness into
Game Theory and Economics,''
American Economic Review 83,
Dec. 1993, 1281-1302.
Thomas Schelling, The Strategy of
Conflict, 54-58.
Colin Camerer, ``Progress in Behavioral Game
Theory,''
Journal of Economic Perspectives 11,
Fall 1997, 167-188.
Sylvia Nasar, ``A Beautiful Mind,''
Vanity Fair, June 1998, 196-201, 224-230.
The Prisoners' Dilemma
D&S, chs. 8.
Robert Axelrod, The Evolution of
Cooperation, chs. 1-2, 4.
Donald Barlett and James Steele, ``States At
War,''
Time, Nov. 9, 1998, 40-54.
William Poundstone, Prisoner's Dilemma
ch. 6.
Mixed strategies
D&S, ch. 5.
Combining sequential and simultaneous moves
D&S, chs. 6 & 7.
Strategic moves
D&S, ch. 9.
Adam Brandenberger and Barry Nalebuff, ``The
Right
Game: Use Game Theory to Shape Strategy,''
Harvard Business Review, July-August 1995, 57-71.
Pankaj Ghemawat, Games Businesses Play,
ch. 3.
Thomas Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict,
119-139.
Roger Simon, ``Primary Care,''
The New Republic, Feb. 24, 1997, 15-18.
Brinkmanship
D&S, ch. 13.
Evolutionary Games
D&S, ch. 10,
Robert Axelrod, The Evolution of
Cooperation, ch. 2.
Collective-Action Games
D&S, ch. 11.
The Role of Information
D&S, ch. 12.
Joesph Farrell and Matthew Rabin, "Cheap Talk,"
Journal of Economic Perspectives 10, Summer 1996, 103-118.
Auctions
D&S, ch. 15.
John McMillan, Games, Strategies, and
Managers, ch. 12.
"The heyday of the auction," The Economist,
July 24, 1999.
Voting
D&S, ch. 14.
Peter Ordeshook, A Political Theory Primer,
ch. 3 (sec. 3), ch 4 (sec. 1-3).
Bargaining
D&S, ch. 16.
Markets and Competition (if there's time)
D&S, ch. 17.