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Game Theory Lab

Professor: Sara Negrelli

Course summary

Why do telephone companies make similar offers to customers? How do airlines companies choose the price of a ticket? Why does OPEC exist? The Game Theory Lab will help answering these and many more questions.

Students will be introduced to the analysis of situations in which firms interact with each other. Students will learn how to describe such situations as “games played by players”. During the classes, we will discuss how firms select strategies (moves of the game) to optimally respond to each other and what the possible outcomes (solutions of the game) of an interaction are. Students will explore different situations and different tools to find ways to cope with strategic uncertainty.

This course will also use interactive games and experiment-based learning. We will often conduct experiments where students will be asked to play some games to see how they behave in situations of strategic interaction. This will make students experience first-hand the decision-making environments discussed in class. Finally, during the classes we will also compare our solutions with the outcome of some real world situations in which firms interact to see whether firms actually maximize their profits.

Students will be required to work in small groups to apply the tools learnt in classroom to take a real business decision. They will also be required to present to the rest of the class their work. This will help students to strengthen their teamwork skills and analytical skills/public speaking skills.

This introductory course will also help students to understand if they like the topic, part of a first year course at UB, and if they might enjoy UB’s hands-on and interactive approach to teaching/learning.

Learning Objectives:

The course addresses the following questions and issues:

  1. How to predict the outcome of many situations of strategic interactions?
  2. How do agents interact with each other in taking decisions?
  3. How do individuals take economic decisions in small groups?
  4. How do firms take decisions when there are few competitors in the market?

Course Material: Readings, slides and cases will be provided via e-learning platform.

Assessment Methods: Friendly qualitative feedback will be given based on the individual class participation and final presentations by small groups.

The course is an introduction to our University’s interactive and hands-on approach to teaching the BSc in Economic and Social Sciences.


Last modified 10/12/2023 - 12:02:55