AU kursuskatalog arkiv

3410: Micro 1 ( forår 2011 - 10 ECTS )

Rammer for udbud

• Uddannelsessprog: engelsk
• Niveau: Optional BSc and MSc course. (Old course code: 7010)  
• Semester/kvarter: INTERVALS AT WHICH THE COURSE IS OFFERED: Every spring.  
• Timer per uge: 4 and 1 tutorial per week for 12 weeks. See time table at www.econ.au.dk/teaching/elective-courses/ for time and lecture room.  
• Deltagerbegrænsning: None. NB: The course cannot be taken simultaneously with 2420 Microeconomic Theory  
• Undervisningssted: Århus
• Hovedområde: Det Samfundsvidenskabelige Fakultet
• Udbud ID: 26219

Formål

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The students should be able to
Part I
• Formulate economic problems as proper formal game forms, solve and
analyze them
• Reflect upon the information structure of a problem

Part II
• Reflect upon the equilibrium concepts and their relevance for a given
economic problem
• Reflect upon the main problems caused by asymmetric information
• Formulate, solve and analyze economic models of contracts and reflect upon
the underlying assumptions
• Generalize the models to real economic environments

Indhold

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The purpose of the course is to build upon and extend the introductory analyses considered in previous microeconomic courses. The course consists of two parts. The first and main part of the course is an introduction to game theory. The second part applies these concepts by giving an introduction to the economics of asymmetric information.

Game theory studies multi-person decision problems with strategic interactions. The study of game theory provides tools that can be used in a wide range of situations: firms competing in a market, bidders participating in auctions, bargaining, or long-term relationships.

The second part of the course will introduce students to informational asymmetries and how contracts deal, as well as possible, with such informational asymmetries. Applications of information economics and contract theory are widespread: industry regulation, incentive schemes for managers, workers and civil servants, insurance policies, pricing decisions, and optimal taxation.

COURSE SUBJECT AREAS:

Topics in game theory:
• Static games under complete information and applications
• Dynamic games under complete information and applications
• Static games under incomplete information and applications
• Dynamic games under incomplete information and applications

Topics in contracts and asymmetric information
• Adverse selection and signaling and applications
• Adverse selection: Hidden information and screening and applications
• Moral hazard and applications

Faglige forudsætninger

REQUIRED COURSES (progression):

The compulsory courses in the first 4 semesters of the BSc Economics and Management program, especially microeconomics, mathematics and statistics and microeconomic theory.
The course assumes a solid foundation in microeconomics, probability theory and mathematics.

Underviser

LECTURER: Julia Nafziger

Undervisnings- og arbejdsform

TEACHING METHOD:

Lectures and tutorials with active student participation. Problem sets following each topic.

Litteratur

 • Game Theory
Osborne, An Introduction to Game Theory, Oxford University Press, 2004 (circa 350 pages)

• Contract Theory
Mas Colell, Whinston and Green, Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press, Chapter 13 (circa 50 pages)

Lecture notes on Contract Theory (circa 50 pages)
A total of approx. 450 pages

Studieordning og bedømmelse

Bacheloruddannelsen i økonomi

• Skriftlig, bedømt efter 7-skala med intern censur

Grundfaget i erhvervsøkonomi

• Skriftlig, bedømt efter 7-skala med intern censur

FORM OF ASSESSMENT:

4-hour written exam. At least 6 problem sets must be handed in and approved in order for the students to be admitted to the exam.

EXAMINATION AIDS ALLOWED: Danish-English, English-Danish dictionaries.