Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description



CODE ECN4101

 
TITLE Risk and Uncertainty

 
UM LEVEL 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course

 
MQF LEVEL Not Applicable

 
ECTS CREDITS 5

 
DEPARTMENT Economics

 
DESCRIPTION Course Objective:

The course focuses on the main elements of microeconomic theory that for the basis of decision-making under risk and uncertainty. It sets out by analysing the nature of risk and uncertainty as a departure from the perfectly-competitive equilibrium model, and assesses the relevance of the assumption of rationality under the circumstances. The course explores different situations of strategic decision-making under uncertainty by means of practical applications using game theoretic equilibrium concepts. The instances of incomplete knowledge, asymmetric information, and dynamic decisions are explored in the course.

Indicative list of topics to be covered:
- Event Uncertainty
- The expected utility hypothesis Violations of expected utility
- Risk-bearing and risk-sharing equilibrium Labour market applications Mutual Fund Theorem
- Asymmetric information
- Strategic Uncertainty
- Definition of games and strategic dominance
- Nash equilibrium in static games of complete information Dynamic games of complete information
- Introduction to games of incomplete information

Suggested Textbooks:

- Gibbons, A Primer in Game Theory
- Hirschleifer, Riley, The Analytics of Uncertainty and Information, Cambridge University Press
- Machina M, Choice Under Uncertainty , Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 1 no.1, Summer 1987
- Varian H, Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach, Norton

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Examination (2 Hours) Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Keith Huber

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.


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