Political Economy: An Exploration of the Game Strategy in Election Competition, International Trade and Political Decision-making

Course 4: Political Economy: An Exploration of the Game Strategy in Election Competition, International Trade and Political Decision-making

I. Course Description

The course deeply explores how the principles of economics are applied to the analysis of political economy, international trade and public policy. Through the study of consumer and producer behavior, as well as the application of competitive equilibrium analysis and welfare analysis, students will master how to use price theory and game theory models to understand and predict complex economic phenomena. This course will combine theory and practice, focusing on the analysis of practical cases such as incomplete competition, election competition and auction in the market, to help students to make rational decisions in a dynamic environment.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to fully understand the application of economic principles in the fields of political economy, international trade and public policy, and analyze the market behavior of consumers and producers and the impact of these behaviors on policy formation. They will master the tools of competitive equilibrium and welfare analysis, assess the impact of policy interventions on social welfare, and gain a deep understanding of the characteristics of incomplete competition. At the same time, students will also use the game theory model to analyze the election competition and auction process, discuss the strategic interaction of all participants, and finally learn how to use the concept of cooperative game to provide theoretical support for the formulation of public policies.

II. Professor Introduction

Ryan Yuhao Fang – Professor of the University of Chicago

Professor Ryan Yuhao Fang received his PhD in economics from the University of Chicago in 2014. Now the Kenneth Griffin Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. The Department of Economics at the University of Chicago is one of the top economics departments in the world. As of October 2019,33 of the 83 Nobel Prize winners in economics were alumni, professors or researchers at the University of Chicago. The famous Chicago School of Economics was also born here.

Ryan Yuhao Fang Professor Professors main research interests are microeconomic theories and their applications, including political economy, information economics, behavioral economics, etc. He currently focuses on negative versus positive campaign advertising, media censorship, and evolutionary interpretations of biases in decision making and belief formation. He also studied social status and redistribution politics, and the relationship between the stability of authoritarian regimes and economic and social policy. He has published several important academic papers, such as “Media Predicice in pursuit of Profit Maximization” and “Private and Public Incentive Mechanism for Corporate consolidation in the Face of Foreign Investment”.

III. Syllabus

1. Theory of human behavior and decision-making from the perspective of economics
2. Market behavior- -consumers
3. Market behavior- -producers
4. Competitive equilibrium analysis
5. Application of static and welfare analysis
6. Incomplete competition: monopoly and oligopoly
7. Perfect information strategic game
8. Application of election competition and auction theory
9. Perfect information generalized game
10. Alliance game and its application