The University of Chicago

John W. Patty
Game Theory I Fall 2017

Game Theory I Syllabus

This course covers introductory noncooperative game theory with an emphasis on its use in
political science.

Course Text. The course texts are

• A Course in Game Theory, by Martin J. Osborne and Ariel Rubinstein, and
• Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory (November 2016 version), by Ariel Rubinstein.
Each of these are available for free as downloads from:1
https://books.osborne.economics.utoronto.ca/.
In addition, a great (and much more recent) supplemental textbook is Game Theory: An Intro-
duction, by Steven Tadelis. It is not free, but it will be a required text for Game Theory II in
the Winter.

Contact Information. My office is Pick 320A, my office phone is (773) 702-7699, and my
email is jwpatty@uchicago.edu. The course website is on Canvas. All materials for the course
will be on this website and you are responsible for checking it regularly. This quarter, my office
hours are by appointment.

Teaching assistant. The teaching assistant for the course is Alexandra Chinchilla. Her email
is achinchilla@uchicago.edu.

Course Meetings. The class will be held 9:30-10:50 on Tuesdays & Thursdays in Saieh Hall
141.

Course Grading. Each student’s grade for the course will be based on the following:
1. 6 Problem Sets. Combined, these are worth 30% of the final course grade. Each assignment
is due at the beginning of the class for which it is listed below. The assignments should
be turned in on Canvas by the beginning of class on the date listed below in the course
schedule. Late assignments will be penalized by 10 points (out of 100) for each day late.
2. Midterm Exam. This in-class exam is worth 30%
3. Final Exam. The final, comprehensive, and take-home exam is worth 40% of the final
course grade.
The course is graded on the following scale:
Score Grade Score Grade Score Grade Score Grade
≥94 A ≥83 B ≥73 C ≥63 D
≥90 A- ≥80 B- ≥70 C- ≥60 D-
≥87 B+ ≥77 C+ ≥67 D+ <60 E

Note: I do not round grades so, for example, a final grade of 93.9 is an “A-.”
1 Note: for the free download, the authors require that you “register” with an email address.

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John W. Patty Game Theory I Syllabus 2

Teaching Philosophy. I hope you will meet with me during the quarter, especially if you have
questions about the course material. I welcome questions during class: if you have a question
or comment, please interrupt me!

Academic Honesty. I strongly encourage you to review the University’s policies regarding
academic honesty. In general, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Various Policies.
• You may work together on the problem sets, though you should each prepare your answers
separately.

• All assignments and the take-home exam should be prepared in LaTeX and submitted
electronically as a pdf on the Canvas site.
• The problem sets are “open book and open notes.”
• You are to consult only with Professor Patty regarding the final exam.

• Though it is take-home, the final exam is “closed book and closed notes”: you should
consult no materials while taking it.

Class Schedule. The class schedule is as follows:

1. (Sep 26) Introduction
2. (Sep 28) Preferences

• Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory, Chapter 1.

3. (Oct 3) Utility
• Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory, Chapter 2.
4. (Oct 5) Choice

• Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory, Chapter 3.

• Homework Assignment #1 Due.
5. (Oct 10) Expected Utility
• Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory, Chapter 7.

6. (Oct 12) Strategic Games

• Game Theory, Chapters 1 & 2.
• Homework Assignment #2 Due.

7. (Oct 17) Mixed Strategies

• Game Theory, Chapter 3.
8. (Oct 19) Rationalizability
• Game Theory, Chapter 4.
• Homework Assignment #3 Due.
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John W. Patty Game Theory I Syllabus 3

9. (Oct 24) Common Knowledge

• Game Theory, Chapter 5.
10. (Oct 26) In Class Exam
11. (Oct 31) Extensive Form Games

• Game Theory, Chapter 6.

12. (Nov 2) Bargaining Games & Subgame Perfection
• Game Theory, Chapter 7.
• Homework Assignment #4 Due.

13. (Nov 7) Repeated Games

• Game Theory, Chapter 8.
14. (Nov 9) Collective Action

• TBD
• Homework Assignment #5 Due.
15. (Nov 14) Spatial Competition
• TBD

16. (Nov 16) Auditing

• TBD
• Homework Assignment #6 Due.
17. (Nov 21) Makeup/Catchup class (if necessary)

18. (Nov 28) No Class: Final exam distributed.

19. Take Home Final Exam Due December 5th