Game theory explores the art of how people make decisions in situations where their choices affect each other. Learn core game theory frameworks through practical application-based learning to transform your and your organization’s performance. With the increasing complexity of today’s world, game theory offers valuable frameworks and tools to navigate uncertainty and establish scientific rigor for strategy. Today, game theory has applications across businesses (advertising, digital markets, mergers and acquisitions, cartels, innovation etc.) along with policy.
This course on game theory is developed based on courses being offered at IIMA for the past several years by Prof Viswanath Pingali, an award-winning faculty member at IIMA.
This course emphasizes an intuitive approach to game theory rather than focusing on quantitative techniques. This course helps you acquire a competitive edge through enhanced strategic thinking, structured problem-solving, and optimal decision-making in complex situations., The course also discusses behavioral economics insights, where applicable.
We try and answer a few questions (not exclusive):
(1) Why do price wars happen?
(2) What is the problem of commons, and what are its implications for the climate change debate?
(3) How do modern businesses operate and what are some implications?
(4) Why is culture at firms and economies so difficult to change?
(5) What is the unicorn mania that is dominating today’s conversation?
(6) Why did some companies offer much larger warranty than the market norm?
(7) Why is winning risky in markets with uncertainty and how could information asymmetry lead to
market failure?
This module aims to introduce you to the game theory course. It introduces you to some real-life questions that you can solve by using the concepts we will learn over the course. Following this, the course introduces you to the idea of a game and to some simple games. Subsequently, the module explores the most famous game in game theory: Prisoners’ Dilemma, where smart people find no incentive to cooperate with each other. The module further explores some real-life examples of prisoners’ dilemma. All learning components will be updated upon the official launch of the course
Inclus
11 vidéos14 lectures4 devoirs
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Recommended Reading: The Art of Strategy by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff (Chapter 3)•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Median Voter Theorem•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Level K Thinking•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: The Travelers’ Dilemma•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Level K Thinking Experiments•10 minutes
4 devoirs•Total 64 minutes
Graded Quiz•40 minutes
Practice Quiz•6 minutes
Practice Quiz•9 minutes
Practice Quiz•9 minutes
Week 2: Nash Equilibrium
Module 2•6 heures à terminer
Détails du module
This module introduces you to the famous concept of Nash Equilibrium. What do you do when there is no Dominant Strategy or Dominated Strategies? Where do thought processes converge? This module further explores several interesting phenomena like Stag Hunt, Battle of Sexes, and Hawk Dove Games. We will explore why some inefficient outcomes happen despite all the players knowing that they are suboptimal. We will also explore questions like whether equilibrium means efficient.
All learning components will be updated upon the official launch of the course
Inclus
17 vidéos17 lectures5 devoirs1 sujet de discussion
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17 vidéos•Total 90 minutes
What is the Idea of Nash Equilibrium?•6 minutes
A Simple Illustration of of Nash Equilibrium?•6 minutes
Stag Hunt – Does Equilibrium mean Efficient Outcome?•8 minutes
Battle of Sexes – Does Equilibrium mean Equality?•5 minutes
Hawk-Dove – Does Equilibrium mean Playing Symmetric Strategies?•5 minutes
Stag Hunt and Development of Economies•7 minutes
Digital Markets - Stag Hunt and Single Homing•5 minutes
Digital Markets - Stag Hunt and Multi Homing•6 minutes
Digital Markets – Some Recent Issues •5 minutes
Competing with Rivals in Coordination Games •3 minutes
Inequality Inherent in Equilibrium•4 minutes
Introduction to Mixed Strategies •4 minutes
Mixed Strategies: Zero Sum Games •4 minutes
Expected Values and Mixed Strategies•5 minutes
Computing Mixed Strategies •6 minutes
Behavioral Aspects to Mixed Strategies •6 minutes
Action Bias and Mixed Strategies •4 minutes
17 lectures•Total 168 minutes
Reference Watch: Simulating the Evolution of Aggression•14 minutes
Essential Reading: Climate Change and Nash Equilibrium•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Coordination Games•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: The Tower of Babel as a Coordination Game: Political Linguistics in Ghana•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Review of 'Why Nations Fail'•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Dynamics of two-sided internet markets•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Small Firms and Digital Platforms•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Are User Shares Indicative of Market Power?•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Small Businesses and Digital Platforms•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Google Antitrust Lawsuit•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: The Art of Strategy by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff (Chapter 4)•10 minutes
Reference Watch: Memorable Movie Death•4 minutes
Essential Reading: Rock Paper Scissors Game•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Behavioral Strategies and Randomness •10 minutes
Essential Reading: The Case of Penalty Kicks in Soccer•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Minimax Play at Wimbledon•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: The Art of Strategy by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff (Chapter 5)•10 minutes
5 devoirs•Total 67 minutes
Graded Quiz•40 minutes
Practice Quiz•9 minutes
Practice Quiz
•6 minutes
Practice Quiz•3 minutes
Practice Quiz•9 minutes
1 sujet de discussion•Total 10 minutes
What is your Strategy in Rock, Paper, Scissors?•10 minutes
Week 3: Sequential Games
Module 3•5 heures à terminer
Détails du module
This module introduces you to the games that are sequential in nature. That is, we look at the cases where players alternate in their moves. Further, there are cases where games repeat themselves. We will look further at when we can expect competitors to cooperate in a prisoners’ dilemma situation. We will also explore some interesting games such as the ultimatum game and the trust game.
All learning components will be updated upon the official launch of the course
Inclus
15 vidéos15 lectures5 devoirs
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15 vidéos•Total 82 minutes
Basics of Backward Induction•6 minutes
Analyzing Backward Induction: Centipede Game •5 minutes
Backward Induction: Ultimatum Game •6 minutes
Behavior and Ultimatum Games •5 minutes
Emotions and Ultimatum Games •6 minutes
Trust Games•6 minutes
What Happens When there is No Intellectual Property? •5 minutes
Backward Induction and Innovation•6 minutes
Arguments against Intellectual Property•6 minutes
Rare Diseases and Backward Induction•3 minutes
What Happens when Prisoners’ Dilemma is Repeated Finitely? •7 minutes
Introduction to Tit-For-Tat in Large Repetitions •5 minutes
Outlook of the Future and Cooperation •5 minutes
What does Cooperation Entail? •4 minutes
The Economics of Cartels•8 minutes
15 lectures•Total 160 minutes
Essential Reading: Backward Induction•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Ultimatum Game•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: The Art of Strategy by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff (Chapter 6)•10 minutes
Reference Watch: Two Monkeys were Paid Unequally•3 minutes
Essential Reading: Ultimatum Game•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Social Preferences and the Brain•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Why Intellectual Property is Essential for your Business•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Hypotheses on Intellectual Property and Inequality•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Understanding Evergreening of Patents in the Pharmaceutical Industry•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Balancing Affordability and Availability in a Drug Patent Regime•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Rare Diseases •10 minutes
Reference Game: The Evolution of Trust•10 minutes
Reference Watch: Axelrod’s Experiments•27 minutes
Essential Reading: The Prisoner's Dilemma•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: What Determines Cartel Success?•10 minutes
5 devoirs•Total 76 minutes
Graded Quiz•40 minutes
Practice Quiz•9 minutes
Practice Quiz•9 minutes
Practice Quiz•9 minutes
Practice Quiz•9 minutes
Week 4: Games when there is Uncertainty in Information
Module 4•5 heures à terminer
Détails du module
Often, full information is not available, especially regarding the other players. In this module, we will look at scenarios with partial information. We will explore several interesting applications of such games and look into concepts like winners’ curse and adverse selection. We will also explore the link between biology and game theory
All learning components will be updated upon the official launch of the course
Inclus
13 vidéos12 lectures4 devoirs1 sujet de discussion
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13 vidéos•Total 84 minutes
Second Price Sealed Bid Auction vs First Price Sealed Bid Auction•7 minutes
Revenue Equivalence•7 minutes
Experimental Evidence in Auctions•5 minutes
Some Common Auction Experiments•5 minutes
The Idea of Winners' Curse•7 minutes
Winners' Curse in Mergers and Acquisitions World•6 minutes
Why do Winners' Curse Happen?•6 minutes
Avoiding Winners' Curse•5 minutes
Problem of Lemons and Peacock's Feathers•7 minutes
Problem of Adverse Selection•4 minutes
Why do People Study and Why do Peacocks have Bright Feathers•8 minutes
Screening and Multiple Contracts•6 minutes
Conclusion•11 minutes
12 lectures•Total 120 minutes
Essential Reading: A Survey of Experimental Research•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Using Field Experiments to Test Equivalence Between Auction Formats•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: The Art of Strategy by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff (Chapter 10)•10 minutes
Essential Reading: Winner’s Curse•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: Competitive Bidding in High-Risk Situations •10 minutes
Recommended Reading: The Art of Strategy by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff (Chapter 10)•10 minutes
Essential Reading: African Widow Bird•10 minutes
Essential Reading: The Handicap Principle•10 minutes
Recommended Reading: The Art of Strategy by Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff (Chapter 8)•10 minutes
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Affichage de 3 sur 289
V
VJ
5·
Révisé le 9 déc. 2024
Excellent course for understanding Game theory and applications
A
AB
5·
Révisé le 27 avr. 2026
Absolutely loved the course! This was my first course on Game theory, and I can confidently say that I understand the fundamentals of Game Theory now!
J
JS
5·
Révisé le 4 août 2025
Excellent description, analysis. Instructor nicely places the issues makes you understand the strategy. Go on adding peacock feathers!!!
A traditional game theory course is highly mathematical. In this course, we will keep maths to the minimum (close to zero) and develop an intuitive understanding of the subject
What book(s) can I read to understand game theory better?
For intuitive understanding, I highly recommend The Art of Strategy by Avinash K Dixit and Barry J Nalebuff. For the technically minded, there are several textbooks out there. Some of the leading authors include Robert Gibbos, Steven Tadalis, Martin J Osborne, etc.
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?
When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.