ECON351 Special Topic: Game Theory

Do you get a good deal when you purchase a TV from a store that gives a "lowest price guarantee" or when you reserve a hotel room through an online travel agency that promises to refund you the difference when your hotel is booked for a lower price later? If you want to understand the forces at play in these situations, then you need to understand strategic interaction.

No firm, government or person operates in a vacuum. The action that someone takes may not only have consequences for herself, but also for others, and vice versa. On the one hand we need to form beliefs about actions taken by others in order to know what action to choose oneself. On the other hand, we may influence decisions taken by others via our own decisions. That is, we engage in strategic thinking.

This paper provides an introduction to strategic thinking, and when you take it, you will learn to recognise and analyse strategic situations.

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Prerequisite

ECON 201 or ECON 271

Schedule C

Arts and Music, Commerce, Science

Contact

economics@otago.ac.nz

More information link

View more information about ECON 351

Teaching staff

Ronald Peeters

Textbooks

Harrington J.E. (2014). Games, Strategies, and Decision Making (2nd ed.). Worth Publishers, New York. (ISBN 978-1429239967).

Graduate Attributes Emphasised

Lifelong learning, Critical thinking, Scholarship, Information literacy, Self-motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.

Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete ECON 351 should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of a variety of game theoretic methods of analysing behaviour in strategic situations
• Apply that understanding to predict behaviour and evaluate business and policy options
• Reflect on game theoretical methods from a multi-disciplinary perspective
• Appreciate the impact that game theory has made, and continues to make, in a variety of contexts

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