EC371: Reasoning and Choice: Game Theory for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Module code: EC371

Module provider: Economics; School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Credits: 20

Level: 6

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Christian Bach , email: c.w.bach@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 3 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module provides the opportunity for students to learn together in an interdisciplinary setting and to experience a unifying perspective on game theory as a key methodology of modern science. Game theory studies interactive thinking and strategic decision-making in situations where the outcome does not only depend on your own choices but also on that of others. It has been widely used in all three SPPE fields: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. As a fairly recent discipline being less than 100 years old, game theory has revolutionized how business strategists, economists, policymakers, and politicians think about problem-solving and has become an indispensable tool to tackle a myriad of real-world issues including conflict, strategy, and negotiation. In philosophy, game theory has contributed models of interactive thinking and knowledge to epistemology and logic. This module introduces the core concepts and ideas from game theory revolving around reasoning and choice. These are illustrated with the help of many everyday examples as well as applications from economics, politics, and philosophy. A particular focus of the module lies on games with incomplete or imperfect information, meaning that some components of the analyzed situation are not known to all involved decision-makers. This module boosts your strategic, critical, and analytical thinking to become a successful manager or influential policymaker or convincing politician or clear-headed philosopher.

The delivery mode comprises weekly lectures as well as regular seminars. Plenty of exercises and examples are discussed in the seminars so that the students obtain a deeper understanding of the concepts by applying them continuously to simple problems. As a special event within the module a distinguished guest speaker from outside academia presents a case study in economic consulting and policy consulting followed by an informal networking session including career advice for the students of this module.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Have gained a thorough understanding of game-theoretic models including imperfect and incomplete information frameworks.
2. Apply game-theoretic reasoning to interactive decision problems.
3. Think analytically!
4. Think critically!
5. Think strategically!

Module content

Topics include: Static Games, Iterated Strict Dominance, Iterated Weak Dominance, Nash Equilibrium, Mixed Strategies, Dynamic Games, Behavioural Strategies, Imperfect Information, Bayesian Updating, Belief Revision, Sequential Equilibrium, Incomplete Information, Bayesian Equilibrium 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Weekly lectures intend to convey the concepts. These are complemented by regular seminars to deepen the students´ understanding by discussing various exercise questions applying the concepts.

Study hours

At least 30 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs