Program Overview

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Program Overview

The University of Copenhagen offers a course in Mechanism Design, which is an elective course with a research module. The course is part of the admission requirements for the 5+3 PhD Programme.

Course Details

• The course is open to exchange and guest students from abroad, credit students from Danish universities, and open university students.
• The course introduces students to the economics of asymmetric information and ways to reveal it.
• The course covers topics such as market design, organization of social choice and voting mechanisms, design of regulations, and institutional design in general.

Learning Outcomes

After completing the course, students are expected to be able to:

• Account for the fundamental ideas behind and approaches to mechanism design.
• Define main trade-offs arising in information extraction problems.
• Identify the limitations of existing approaches to mechanism design.
• Explain and discuss key theoretical concepts from academic articles.
• Set up policy, trade, and management issues as mechanism design problems.
• Propose mechanisms that induce the desired outcomes in various environments.
• Analyze the drawbacks of existing institutions and suggest alternatives.

Literature

The main source of material is slides and lecture notes. Various papers and surveys will be referenced throughout the course. A recommended textbook is "Game theory and mechanism design" by Narahari, Yadati.

Recommended Academic Qualifications

The course is highly theoretical and relies on students' knowledge of basic mathematics and game theory tools. Students are expected to have a good grasp of the material from the mathematics courses in the Bachelor program of Economics.

Teaching and Learning Methods

The course material is presented through a mix of classical lectures and recorded videos, supplemented by problem sets that are partially discussed in class.

Assessment

The course is assessed through a home assignment, which is an individual assignment with a maximum of 10 standard pages. The use of AI tools is permitted, but students must explain how they have used the tools.

Exam Details

• The exam is a home assignment, 12 hours.
• The exam is individual, and all aids are allowed.
• The marking scale is a 7-point grading scale.
• There is no external censorship.

Course Information

• Language: English
• Course code: AØKK08201U
• Credit: 7.5 ECTS
• Level: Full Degree Master, Ph.D.
• Duration: 1 semester
• Placement: Autumn

Study Board and Contracting Department

• Study board: Department of Economics, Study Council
• Contracting department: Department of Economics
• Contracting faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences

Course Coordinators and Lecturers

• Course Coordinators: Egor Starkov
• Lecturers: See 'Course Coordinators' NA