COURSE INFORMATION
Course Title: GAME THEORY FOR POLITICAL SCIENCES
Code Course Type Regular Semester Theory Practice Lab Credits ECTS
ECO 561 B 3 3 0 0 3 7.5
Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) NA
Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: Eglantina Hysa
Second Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: NA
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours: NA
Language: English
Compulsory/Elective: Elective
Classroom and Meeting Time:
Course Description: This course provides an introduction to game theory and its application in political sciences. It will use the concept of game theory to understand concept such as war, election, policy making and corruption. Game theory is an analysis of decision making depending on the actions taken by other individuals and political sciences deal with individual behavior. The application of game theory in political sciences explains for instance how a candidate in election take action depending on the decisions of the other candidate.
Course Objectives: The purpose of the course is to give students an understanding of the field of game theory and how political sciences uses it.
COURSE OUTLINE
Week Topics
1 Introduction
2 The theory of choices
3 Individual Choice Under Certainty and Uncertainty
4 Social choices
5 Nash equilibrium
6 Applications: Electoral Competition, the Commons Problem
7 Mixed-Strategy Nash Equilibrium
8 Midterm
9 Rationalizability and Iterated Dominance
10 Extensive Games with Perfect Information
11 Repeated games
12 Bargaining Models
13 Extensive Games with Imperfect Information
14 Cooperative Game Theory
Prerequisite(s):
Textbook: McCarty and Meirowitz. 2006. Political Game Theory, Cambridge University Press. Osborne. 2004. An Introduction to Game Theory, Oxford Press
Other References:
Laboratory Work:
Computer Usage:
Others: No
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
1 Giving an understanding to the students the way game theory works and how it is used in political sciences.
2 Developing students intuition about strategic decision in everyday life
3 Students will be able to learn game theory literature and understand the early formal models in political sciences.
4 Developing student’s analytical capabilities in general.
COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES
(Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)
No Program Competencies Cont.
Master of Science in Economics Program
1 Students apply advanced knowledge in economics 5
2 Students explain the interaction between related disciplines and economics 4
3 Students apply scientific methods to address economic problems 2
4 Students define existing theory in a specialized branch of economics 4
5 Students critically evaluate knowledge in economics and carry out advanced research independently 3
6 Students develop economic models and formulate policy options 3
7 Students make an original contribution to the discipline 3
8 Students effectively communicate in a variety of professional and academic contexts 3
9 Students will develop new strategic approaches for unexpected, complicated situations in economics and take responsibility in solving them 3
10 Students uphold and defend ethical values data collection, interpretation and dissemination 3
11 Students use advanced empirical analyses to address social problems 4
12 Students interact with professional networks in their field of specialization 2
COURSE EVALUATION METHOD
Method Quantity Percentage
Homework
1
10
Midterm Exam(s)
1
30
Quiz
1
10
Final Exam
1
40
Attendance
10
Total Percent: 100%
ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)
Activities Quantity Duration(Hours) Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours) 16 3 48
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) 16 3 48
Mid-terms 1 12 12
Assignments 0
Final examination 1 20 20
Other 2 11 22
Total Work Load:
150
Total Work Load/25(h):
6
ECTS Credit of the Course:
7.5