This section introduces the concepts of preferences and utility functions. There are three broad categories of situations: (i) simple choices (e.g. select quantities of products at the grocery store), (ii) choices under risk and uncertainty (e.g. invest in the stock market or decide to consume an addictive substance), (iii) choices that involve time trade-offs (e.g. how to allocate money between current consumption and savings for the future). We will review these concepts in the case of rational choice and introduce concepts of limited rationality.

This section introduces game theory to represent how economic agents interact strategically with each other. We will discuss situations such as bargaining, collusion and auctions. We will specifically address the strategic use of information and discuss how people can be influenced. We will also show that strategic abilities are often limited, address these limitations in terms of broader human cognitive limitations and introduce behavioral game theory that accounts for such limitations.

This section discusses market outcomes and pricing strategies in the case of monopoly, oligopoly and perfect competition. It also addresses externalities (e.g. pollution), informational issues, market failures and the role of government. We will address how institutions can be designed to acheive specific objectives. We will last discuss matching markets (e.g. organ donation markets) and networks.