PS 590 CC1 - Research in Selected Topics - Mechanism Design

Campus: Urbana-Champaign

Description:

Research in selected topics by arrangement with the instructor.

Special Instructions:

Course Description: How do we create good political institutions--- that is, institutions that generate good outcomes in anticipation of strategic actors' responses to the associated incentives- This is the problem of mechanism design. Thanks to the development of an impressive bevy of tools over the past few decades, it has become possible to provide rigorous solutions to many mechanism design problems, and many of these solutions have generated enormous real-world benefits. In this course, we will survey the foundational tools in the reverse game theorist's kit. Along the way, we will see that many of these tools allow us to study qualitative classes of games with relative ease, so that the theory has both normative and positive implications. Students should come in with a grasp of game theory and its basic equilibrium concepts. Some familiarity with incomplete-information game theory is preferred, though the dedicated student should be able to remedy any deficiencies in this area.

Option 1

Course Level: Graduate

Credit: 4

Term(s): Spring