APPLICATION FORM FOR
H3 COURSE “GAME THEORY AND COMPETITION” JANUARY 2013 INTAKE
FOR A-LEVELS ECONOMICS
Deadline for Application : Monday 29 October 2012
Personal Particulars
Full Name (as in your NRIC/Passport): ______________________________________________________________
Gender:  Male  Female
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NRIC Type:  Pink  Blue
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Mobile Number: _________________________________ Home Number: _________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________________________
Please indicate your preferred day for the H3 course with a tick ().
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Class 1: Wednesdays 2.00pm – 4.45pm
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Class 2: Wednesdays 5.00pm – 7.45pm
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Class 3: Fri 2.00 pm to 4.45 pm, Sat 8.30 am to 11.15 am
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Class 4: Fri 5.00 pm to 7.45 pm, Sat 11.30 am to 2.15 pm
OR
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OR
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OR
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Please submit your completed Application Form together with a copy of your JC1 Promotional Examination Results Slip and your O-levels
Certificate by the abovementioned deadline to your H3 teacher-in-charge in your junior college, and they will pass your application form to us.
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HIGHER 3 PROGRAMME FOR A LEVEL ECONOMICS
ECON 106Z GAME THEORY AND COMPETITION
January 2013
Instructor
Professor Winston T H Koh
Office: #050-033
School of Economics
90 Stamford Road
Tel: 6828-0853
Email: winstonkoh@smu.edu.sg
Course Objectives
Economic agents with divergent objectives and interests often compete against one another in a variety of situations. For
instance, companies compete for customers and production rights, countries compete for foreign investments and over
trade quotas, co-workers compete for promotions, graduates compete for jobs and contestants on game shows compete
for prize money. These agents may have identical or different strategic options open to them and may possess common
information and/or private knowledge that could place them at an advantage relative to their rivals.
This H3 course builds on the H2 Economics Syllabus for Economics: specifically, Section 1.3 – Firms and How They
Operate.
The course will introduce students to basic concepts and principles of game theory, with applications to market
competition, business and other aspects of economic life. Students will learn the application of a game-theoretic
framework to analyze market competition and resource allocation that are directly relevant to the H2 Economics syllabus.
Furthermore, they will be able to use the concepts of prisoners’ dilemma, Nash equilibrium and mixed strategies to
analyze a wide range of economic problems.
This course introduces the students to basic concepts and principles of game theory, with applications to business,
politics and social sciences. The course stresses conceptual understanding and problem solving, and will equip students
with a better appreciation of the strategic interactions present in different types of economic activities.
Course Structure

Class-room sessions: 12 lessons starting in January 2012. There will be 4 classes. Please refer to the specific
schedule as attached.

Assignments and independent study: There will be weekly homework and readings assigned to students for
independent study. Students may consult the professor and the teaching assistant to review the material taught in
class.

Mid-term test: It will be a closed-book test, 2.5 hours in duration, 3 multi-part questions, with structured problems
and free-response questions.

Final Examination: A closed book written examination (3 hours). It will consist of structured problems and freeresponse questions.
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Assessment & Evaluation
Class participation
Mid Term Test
Final examination
5%
25%
70%
Required Text
Avinash K. Dixit, Susan Skeath and David Reiley, Games of Strategy, Third Edition, Norton, 2009
Other Readings and References
Avinash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebuff, Thinking Strategically, Norton, 1991
Eric Rasmusen, Games and Information: An Introduction to Game Theory, Basil Blackwell, 2007
Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, Harvard University Press, 1980
Herbert Gintis, Game Theory Evolving, Princeton University Press, 2009
H. Scott Bierman and Luis Fernandez, Game Theory with Economic Applications, 2nd Edition, Addison Wesley, 1998
Joel Watson, An Introduction to Game Theory, Norton, 2008
Robert Gibbons, Game Theory for Applied Economists, Princeton, 1992
Note: All the supplementary references listed above will be made available at the Course Reserve Section, in the
SMU Library, for the duration of the course.
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Course Outline and Schedule for Class 1 (2.00 pm to 4.45 pm) and Class 2 (5.00 pm to 7.45 pm). Venue:
Seminar Room 5.2, SOE/SOSS Building.
Week
Topics
1
16 Jan 2013 (Wed)
Strategic Thinking with game theory
 What is a game of strategy?
 Rules of the Game
 Decisions versus tactics
2
23 Jan 2013 (Wed)
Game with sequential moves
 Drawing game trees
 Backward Induction
 Rollback equilibrium
3
30 Jan 2013 (Wed)
Games with simultaneous moves
 Nash equilibrium
 Continuous variables
4
6 Feb 2013 (Wed)
Games of dynamic competition
 Combining sequential and simultaneous moves
 Applications to business and politics
5
13 Feb 2013 (Wed)
Simultaneous-move games with mixed strategies
 Beliefs and Responses
 Games with more than two strategies
6
20 Feb 2013 (Wed)
The Prisoners’ Dilemma
 Repeated interactions
 Applications to Politics, Evolutionary Biology
7
27 Feb 2013 (Wed)
Uncertainty and Information
 Strategies to manipulate information
 Screening versus signaling
8
2 Mar 2013 (Sat)
Mid-term Test – 1.00 pm to 3.30 pm
9
6 Mar 2013 (Wed)
Entry Deterrence under Asymmetric Information
 Separating, Pooling and Semi-separating
Equilibrium
10
13 Mar 2013 (Wed)
Games with strategic moves
 Commitment, threats and promises:
 Applications: US-Japan trade relations
 Brinkmanship
11
20 Mar 2013 (Wed)
Introduction to Auction Theory
 Private-values auction model
 Common-values auction model
12
13 April 2013 (Sat)
Final Examination
Dixit and Skeath
Ch 1, 2
Ch 3
Ch 4, 5
Ch 6
Ch 7, 8
Ch 11
Ch 9
Ch 9
Ch 10, 14
Ch 16
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Course Outline and Schedule for Class 3 (Fri 2.00 pm to 4.45 pm, Sat 8.30 am to 11.15 am) and Class 4 (5.00
pm to 7.45 pm, Sat 11.30 am to 2.15 pm). Venue: Seminar Room 5.2, SOE/SOSS Building.
Week
Topics
1
5 Jan 2013 (Fri)
Strategic Thinking with game theory
 What is a game of strategy?
 Rules of the Game
 Decisions versus tactics
2
25 Jan 2013 (Fri)
Game with sequential moves
 Drawing game trees
 Backward Induction
 Rollback equilibrium
3
26 Jan 2013 (Sat)
Games with simultaneous moves
 Nash equilibrium
 Continuous variables
4
8 Feb 2013 (Fri)
Games of dynamic competition
 Combining sequential and simultaneous moves
 Applications to business and politics
5
15 Feb 2013 (Fri)
Simultaneous-move games with mixed strategies
 Beliefs and Responses
 Games with more than two strategies
6
16 Feb 2013 (Sat)
The Prisoners’ Dilemma
 Repeated interactions
 Applications to Politics, Evolutionary Biology
7
1 Mar 2013 (Fri)
Uncertainty and Information
 Strategies to manipulate information
 Screening versus signaling
8
2 Mar 2013 (Sat)
Mid-term Test – 1.00 pm to 3.30 pm
9
15 Mar 2013 (Fri)
Entry Deterrence under Asymmetric Information
 Separating, Pooling and Semi-separating
Equilibrium
10
22 Mar 2013 (Fri)
Games with strategic moves
 Commitment, threats and promises:
 Applications: US-Japan trade relations
 Brinkmanship
11
23 Mar 2013 (Sat)
Introduction to Auction Theory
 Private-values auction model
 Common-values auction model
12
13 April 2013 (Sat)
Final Examination
Dixit and Skeath
Ch 1, 2
Ch 3
Ch 4, 5
Ch 6
Ch 7, 8
Ch 11
Ch 9
Ch 9
Ch 10, 14
Ch 16
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