In this Specialization, you'll learn how to use game theory to make sense of strategic choices in markets, networks, organizations, and public decisions. You'll start with the basics: how to describe a situation, compare possible choices, and predict what people may do when each person's outcome depends on others.
From there, you'll study decisions that unfold over time, choices made with incomplete information, repeated interactions, and group decision-making. You'll see how these ideas apply to internet traffic, online platforms, sports, bargaining, political campaigns, financial markets, voting, public projects, and auctions.
The advanced course shifts from analyzing behavior to designing better rules. You'll examine how voting systems, public decisions, pricing rules, and auctions can encourage fairer, more efficient outcomes when people act in their own interests.
By the end, you'll be able to:
Model situations where people or organizations make connected decisions.
Predict likely outcomes when incentives, timing, uncertainty, or repeated choices matter.
Evaluate rules for voting, resource allocation, pricing, and auctions.
This Specialization is a strong fit for learners in economics, computer science, political science, business, or policy who want a rigorous but practical way to study strategic systems.
Applied Learning Project
Applied work centers on practice, problem-solving, and active dialogue rather than a standalone capstone project. Learners complete video quizzes, review quizzes, weekly problem sets, and final exams.
Activities use concrete scenarios from the course content. Learners reason through internet traffic and network sharing, sports strategy, bargaining offers, poker-style uncertainty, long-term cooperation, and group value sharing. In the advanced course, they test voting rules, public project decisions, such as roads or libraries, meeting scheduling, transportation routing, online advertising auctions, stock-market-style trading, and sales of scarce resources.
