Syllabus academic year 2008/2009
(Created 2008-07-17.)
ECONOMICS, INFORMATION, RISK AND UNCERTAINTYTEK090

Higher education credits: 7,5. Grading scale: TH. Level: A (Second level). Language of instruction: The course will be given in English on demand. TEK090 overlap following cours/es: NEKM27. Optional for: I4fi, Pi4, Pi4fm, RH4. Course coordinator: Ola Andersson, ola.andersson@nek.lu.se, Nationalekonomiska inst. Prerequisites: TEK120 Microeconomic Theory or TEK135 Mikcoeconomic Theory or NEKB21 Microeconomic Analysis. Assessment: Examination consists of compulsory assignments and a final written exam which takes place at the end of the course. There will be further opportunities for examination close to this date. Other forms of examination may be used to a limited extent. Further information: For more information, please contact the Department of Economics. Home page: http://www.nek.lu.se.

Aim
The goal for education at this level is to instil a deeper understanding of economic theory and the application of scientific methods of analysis. The objective is also to instil an ability to handle empirical material in an independent and critical manner. The more specific aims of this course are to enhance students’ understanding of situations where individuals, firms and organizations operate in environments characterized by risk, uncertainty and imperfect information.

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

have a knowledge and understanding of:

Skills and abilities
For a passing grade the student must

possess intellectual and practical skills to

Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must

develop an ability to pursue further studies in the field and to seek and evaluate information with a high degree of independence

Contents
The course gives an introduction to decision making under risk and uncertainty with special attention to the case of asymmetric information. The course will introduce the core theoretical concepts and present applications and examples from different areas of economics.

The following topics will be covered:

The topics of the latter part of the course will vary depending on the wishes of the students.

Literature
Borglin, A.: Economic Dynamics and general Equilibrium, Springer 2003.
Borglin, A.: Topics in the Theory of Choice under Uncertainty and Risk, revised version fall 2004.
Supplementary material.