Dr Stephane Wolton

This course is available on the MRes/PhD in Political Science and MSc in Political Science and Political Economy. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

The deadline for applications is 17:00 on Tuesday 1 October 2019. You will be informed of the outcome by 17:00 on Wednesday 2 October 2019.

Knowledge of game theory at the level of GV4C8 is required.

This course will help students think about the way game theory is applied to research in political science and political economy. Each week, students will study one working paper using game theory. Each lecture will have a substantive and a technical part. There will be an in-depth discussion of the paper (substantive part) and the lecturer will cover the main proofs of the paper on the board (technical part).

21 hours of lectures and 1 hour of lectures in the MT.

There will be 1 introductory 1 hour lecture in Week 1, and then 6 lectures of three hours, each covering a different paper, in weeks 2-5 and weeks 7 and 8. In week 11, there will be a three-hour lecture where students will present a research project using game theory.

Students will meet with the instructor to discuss their research project twice during the MT.

Two useful (but advanced) game theory textbooks are:

- Game Theory. Drew Fudenberg and Jean Tirole. MIT Press (1991).

- Game Theory. Michael Maschler, Eilon Solan, and Shmuel Zamir. Cambridge University Press (2013).

A reading list of the papers reviewed in the first six lectures will be provided at the beginning of the term.

Presentation (50%) and essay (50%) in the MT Week 11.

Students will be assessed on a class presentation on a research project of their choosing which involves game theory (weight 50%) and on writing a referee report on one of the papers covered in the lectures (weight 50%).