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Econ/Cmps 166A /Bio176A // Prof. Dan Friedman

Game Theory

The course introduces students to modern game theory, including applications in social science, biology and engineering. Students are expected to have declared a major in Engineering, Physical and Biological Sciences, or Social Sciences, and to be able to use the tools of differential calculus and basic probability theory.

The teaching assistant is Maxim Belenkiy. He will lead sections Wed 5-6:10 pm in Oakes Acad 101, and Th 4-5:10 pm in Nat Sci Annex 102. His office hours are Fridays 11-noon in 403F Engineering 2. Email address: mbelenki@ucsc.edu, website

The instructor is Dan Friedman. His office hours are MW 3:15- 3:30pm, and by appointment, in 417 Engineering 2.

Announcements

Final Exam Preparation

Dan will hold office hours 2-3:30pm Mon Dec 8 in 417 E2 or across the hall

Special Review Session 4-7pm Tue Dec 9, Nat Sci Annex 102

Maxim will hold office hours 4-6 pm Wed Dec 10 in 492 E2.

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A tutorial on evolutionary games written for graduate students can be found here. You might want to read the introduction and skim pages 28-30, but (unless you are a graduate student) don't worry if it seems too complicated!

Keith Henwood spotted this article on the Freakonomics blog regarding mixed strategies and thought you might enjoy it.

For Binmore's comment on Axelrod's RPD tournament, see this website..

There is a nice game theory blog here.

Readings // All // //

• AK Final PPs // Posted on 2008-12-09

  • The official answer key for all the practice problems for the final exam.
  • - download

• AK add-on // Posted on 2008-12-09

  • Maxim has added a few more comments and explanations for the practice problems.
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• Final Practice Problems // Posted on 2008-12-02

  • Try these problems to help you prepare for the final exam. Solutions will be posted about 24 hours before the exam, so don't wait until then!! The supplementary problem on the all-pay auction was revised December 2.
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• Presentation schedule // Posted on 2008-11-18

  • The current schedule for team project presentations. Teams that present Monday Dec 1 get 1 bonus point, increasing the presentation score by 5-10%.
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• Solutions for PS #3--IV.2 // Posted on 2008-11-17

  • a derivation of the NE for the Hawk-Dove game
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• Solutions for PS #3--IV.1 // Posted on 2008-11-17

  • A spreadsheet for RPS replicator dynamics. This RPS matrix is unstable. Beginning near the mixed NE p0 = (1,1,1)/3, the state pt quickly spirals outward until it gets trapped near one of the corners. If you replace the 0's in the payoff matrix by more reasonable values like 0.5, then the state spirals out much more slowly. You can find spreadsheets with realistic RPS matrices and replicator dynamics at http://bio.research.ucsc.edu/%7Ebarrylab/classes/game_theory/RPS_game.xls. Click on sheets 1,2,3,4,5 to see how to build the RPS game in excel in a sequential fashion.
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• Solutions for PS #3 // Posted on 2008-11-17

  • The official solutions to parts 1-2 of PS #3.
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• Problem Set #3 // Posted on 2008-11-13

  • Updated 11/13: Solutions to these problems (Parts I, II and IV) are due in class Friday November 14, and the draft writeup (Part III) is due Monday November 17.
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• RPD data // Posted on 2008-11-05

  • Helpful for PS #3.
  • - download

• MT solutions // Posted on 2008-11-01

  • The official solutions to the midterm exam. Be sure to have a look and compare to your own solutions.
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• answers to PP // Posted on 2008-10-29

  • The official answer key to the practice problems for the midterm
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• Four Card Barry spreadsheet // Posted on 2008-10-25

  • In PS #3, to be distributed after the midterm exam, you will analyze these data .
  • - download

• Pursuer-evader spreadsheet // Posted on 2008-10-25

  • In PS #3, to be distributed after the midterm exam, you will analyze these data .
  • - download

• Practice problems for midterm // Posted on 2008-10-20

  • These problems cover the material since PS #2 and also include last term's midterm exam...be sure to work on all problems with your teammates, but don't turn in your solutions.
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• Solutions to PS 2 // Posted on 2008-10-20

  • The official solutions to the second problem set. Make sure you understand everything on these pages!
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• RPSD data // Posted on 2008-10-13

  • Data from the game played in class Friday Oct 10
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• Problem Set 2 // Posted on 2008-10-13

  • Solutions to these problems are due in class Friday October 17, so start working on them right away! Some of these problems take a while to solve. Also, get your group working on the prospectus, which is also due October 17.
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• Solutions for PS #1 // Posted on 2008-10-07

  • The official solutions to all assigned problems in PS #1
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• Problem Set #1 // Posted on 2008-10-03

  • Solutions to these problems are due in class Monday October 6, so start working on them after class Monday Sept 29! Some of these problems take a while to solve.
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• the motivation game // Posted on 2008-09-28

  • This game was played in class Friday September 26. The record sheet should be turned in as part of Problem Set #1.
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• motivation game data // Posted on 2008-09-28

  • This spreadsheet contains the data from the game played in class Friday Sept 26.
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• syllabus // Posted on 2008-09-23

  • The schedule will be updated periodically, so take a look every week or so...
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• Term Project Ideas // Posted on 2008-09-20

  • A list of topics chosen by teams last year.
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• Term Projects Groundrules // Posted on 2008-09-20

  • Guidelines etc for the term project.
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• bibliography // Posted on 2008-09-16

  • A list of books on game theory, with comments by DF.
  • - download