Political Economy for Public Policy I

Must be a Harris masters student to enroll. No exceptions for non-Harris students, even by consent. This course is designed to serve three interrelated goals. It is an introduction to core concepts in the study of political economy. These concepts include collective action, coordination, and commitment problems; externalities and other forms of market failure; principal-agent relationships; problems of preference aggregation; and agenda setting and voting. The course also introduces basic concepts in game theory, including Nash equilibrium, subgame Perfection, and repeated games. It is not, however, a suitable substitute for a game theory course for doctoral students in the social sciences. Finally, the course provides an overview of some of the key insights from the field of political economy on how institutions shape and constrain the making of public policy, with special attention to various ways in which governments can and cannot be held accountable to their citizens.