Economics

This course is for students interested in addressing questions affecting nearly two-thirds of the world’s population living in poverty: why are some countries rich in comparison with the vast majority that are poor? Why do some countries grow faster than others? What are the most effective methods of improving health, education, and women empowerment in low and middle-income countries? Can the relaxation of credit and saving constraints help to alleviate poverty and empower women via microfinance? Are institutions the root cause of underdevelopment in former colonies? Can foreign aid via institutions as the World Bank and the IMF play a role in economic development? Is foreign aid efficient? The course provides an overview of the leading issues and ongoing controversies in economic development trajectories and policy, and to expose students to the latest research findings in salient poverty-related topics. 

This course studies important theoretical progresses made in game theory and the asymmetric information theory, and then applies these theories to policy issues including privatization, deregulation, and quasi-market. It includes an introduction of basic concepts and models of game theory and their policy applications. Topics include Nash equilibrium, mixed strategy, subgame perfect Nash equilibrium, perfect Bayesian equilibrium, and principal-agent model.