Module description
What is the module about?
Game theory is the study of strategic interactions — situations where your best choice depends on what others do, and theirs depends on you. This second-year module provides students with a theoretical and practical understanding of game theory. You will learn to build and solve models of strategic behaviour, covering static and dynamic games under both complete and incomplete information. The tools you develop are applicable to a wide range of problems in economics, finance, politics, and business, from pricing and bargaining to voting and negotiation.
Who should do this module?
This module is available to students in BSc Economics, BSc Economics & Management, BSc Accounting & Finance, and BSc Data Analytics for Business & Finance. It is aimed at students who enjoy thinking carefully about strategic problems and are happy working through models step by step. The mathematics involved is not advanced — if you are comfortable with the maths in your first-year economics modules, you have everything you need. What matters more is that you enjoy the process of setting up a problem precisely and reasoning your way to a solution.
Game theory is one of the most widely applied areas of economic theory. The tools you develop in this module are used across economics, finance, politics, and business strategy — anywhere that outcomes depend on the decisions of multiple agents. Studying game theory sharpens your ability to think rigorously about incentives, commitment, credibility, and information, skills that are valued in consulting, finance, policy, data science, and academic research. It also provides essential foundations if you are considering Advanced Microeconomics in the third year, or modules such as Experimental Economics or Behavioural Economic Theory. If you are thinking about postgraduate study in economics or a career that rewards strong analytical thinking, game theory is an excellent choice.
Provisional Lecture Outline
Lecture 1: Introduction to Games and Strategies
Lecture 2: Static Games of Complete Information & Nash Equilibrium
Lecture 3: Mid-Term Text
Lecture 4: Applications of Nash Equilibrium
Lecture 5: Mixed Strategies
Lecture 6: Dynamic Games of Complete Information
Lecture 7: Credibility & Sequential Rationality
Lecture 8: Strategic Bargaining
Lecture 9: Games of Incomplete Information (Bayesian Games)
Lecture 10: Signalling & Cheap Talk
Assessment details
80% Examination
20% Mid-Term Assessment
Teaching pattern
Weekly lecture
Fortnightly tutorial
Suggested reading list
Key text or background reading
Tadelis, S. (2013). Game theory: An Introduction. Princeton University Press.