Instructor

Ron Siegel

Office: 412 Kern.

Email:rus41@psu.edu. Please include 402 in the subject line of all emails. I will do my best to reply to emails every evening, M-F.

Office Hours: Thu 8:15am-9:15am.

Please email me directly, not through Canvas.

Teaching assistant (both sections)

Leah Hunt

Office: 320 Kern.

Email: [email protected].

Office hours: Tue 2pm-4pm.

Textbook

A substantial part of the course material, but not all of it, will follow Joel Watson's

“ Strategy. An Introduction to Game Theory,” third edition. The rest of the material will be provided in the form of detailed slides, which will be posted on the course website.

Top Hat

We will use Top Hat throughout the course. Please register with Top Hat (https://www.tophat.psu.edu/) if you have not already done so. The codes to join are 422382 (Section 3) and 582847 (Section 2).

You may only use your own Top Hat account. It is a violation of academic integrity to use another student’s Top Hat account in addition to or instead of yours.

Portable electronic devices

Cell phones should be turned off and out of sight during class except when answering questions on Top Hat. No texting during class. Computers are to be used only for consulting/taking notes or for answering questions on Top Hat.

Grades

Grades are determined by performance on homework assignments, participation, two non-mandatory midterm exams, and a cumulative final exam. The weight of the homework in the final grade is 10%, and the weight of the participation component in the final grade is 10%. Subject to the caveats listed below, the weight of each of the midterm exams is 20%, for a total of 40%. The weight of the final is 40%.

The participation component will be determined by answering questions on Top Hat. I will ask questions in class, and each question will be worth one points, one half point for  answering and another half point for answering correctly. To receive the maximal 10% in the participation component of the grade, it is enough to obtain three quarters of the possible points across all questions in the course.

For example, if there are 100 questions in the course, then you can get the maximal grade by answering all of them, half of them correctly and half of them incorrectly. You can also get the maximal grade by answering only 75 of the questions, all of them correctly.

Beyond the Top Hat questions, participation in class can slightly increase or decrease your final grade in the course (by no more than 3 percentage points, but usually by at most 1 or 2) as follows. Not being engaged in class (texting, sleeping, etc.) may decrease the grade. Consistently participating in a thoughtful manner, making an effort to understand things that are not clear by asking relevant questions, etc. in class or in office hours may increase the grade. This small participation component of the grade is somewhat subjective and will not be subject to appeals.

I would like all students to dowell in the course. In addition to the small bonus students can gain from usefully participating in class, the following modification to the grading   scheme will give students the best chance to dowell in the course. The midterm exams are not mandatory and should be thought of as a form of insurance: they can only improve the final grade and never lower it. The way this will work is that the numerical    grade on each midterm exam will be compared to the numerical grade on the final exam,  and the higher grade will be used. For example, if the grade on the first midterm exam is  75, the grade on the second midterm exam is 83, and the grade on the final is 80,then the component of the exams in final grade (ignoring the problem sets and the participation component) will be approximately 65, because 0.20*80+0.20*83+0.40*80=64.6. To this will be added the problem set and participation components, which can bring the grade    up to 85. 

Historically, approximately 30% of the class received an A or A-, approximately 40% of  the class received aB+,B, or B-, and approximately 30% of the class received a C+ or C.

Midterm exams: There will be two non-mandatory midterm exams. The exams will be closed book. The first midterm exam will take place tentatively on Wednesday,

September 27 from 6:15pm to 7:30pm in 121 Sparks (for both sections). The second midterm exam will take place tentatively on Wednesday, November 8 from 6:15pm  to 7:30pm in 102 Forum (for both sections).  The exams are not mandatory, and, as stated above, their grade can never lower your final grade. Thus, there is no need to notify me about missing an exam, and no “make-up” exams are needed.

Final Exam: The final exam will take place on the date and time set by the university. The final exam will be closed book.

Final exam overload (from the registrar’s website): A final exam overload situation exists if the Registrar's office has scheduled three exams in consecutive periods or within one calendar day (policy 44-25).

•     Students may elect to take their exams as scheduled or may request that a final   exam be rescheduled. Requests for rescheduling must be submitted within three weeks of the initial publication of the final exam schedule.

•    To request relief from an overload situation:

o  For students who have a personalized final exam schedule inLionPATH: use theOverload Conflict Exam Request Form. Please note: This form is for use by students attending the following campuses: University Park,

Harrisburg,and Behrend. Students attending all other Penn State

campuses should contact your campus registrar to request relief from an exam overload conflict.

o  For students who do not have a personalized final exam schedule onLionPATH, contact the campus Registrar's office.

•    The Registrar's office determines which of the three exams will be rescheduled and notifies the student and the instructor by email.

Assignments (problem sets): I will assign approximately 8 homework assignments during this course. I will post assignments and other course documents on the course website.

The due date will be noted on the assignments. You must submit your assignments on

Canvas. Because I will solve some problems in class and post solutions to the assignments soon after they are due, late assignments will not be accepted. It is your responsibility to make sure your assignments are submitted on time in Canvas. In addition, soon after your problem set is graded and returned, please make sure a grade has been posted to Canvas. Do not wait until the end of the course to notify me that a grade for your assignment is missing.

Homework assignments are designed to give you a hands-on perspective on the material as well as practice for exams. It is therefore best to attempt the assignments on your own first, but collaborating with others when you are stuck is encouraged. However, each student must submit their own solution to every assignment. (Copying another student’s work does not qualify as one’s “own solution.”)

Questions regarding homework assignments should be directed to the TA. Should there be a need to clarify or correct a question, the TA will communicate the issue tome.

Also note that the assignments, though mainly from the textbook, will often contain  problems that go beyond what has been done in class or written about in the textbook.

Learning to think in the appropriate way is an important skill to be acquired in this course.

Grading: You should write out a careful explanation for all your answers, unless a question explicitly states that an explanation is not required.  You should show your work to the extent that the grader is convinced that you solved the question and not merely copied the solution. Exams will be graded for correctness of the reasoning and the answers. Problem sets will be graded based on both correctness and the garder’s assessment of the effort invested. The aggregate number of points obtained in all the problem sets together will determine 10% your final grade in the class. Because problem sets may vary in length and difficulty, all problem sets will count toward the final grade.

Grade Disputes: Grade disputes impose a significant cost in terms time and energy. The   best way to avoid themisto answer questions clearly and concisely. Vague or ambiguous answers, or answers that do not include the work that leads to the results, will typically lead to a low grade. If you have a question or complaint about the grading of your exam, please speak with the TA first. For simple matters, such as asking how a question was graded or pointing out an arithmetic error in the calculation of your score, simply inform the TA of your question or problem. If your concerns are more substantial and are not satisfied after a discussion with the TA, you may ask the TA to bring your exam and   concern tome. My policy is that you may ask to have your entire exam re-graded (not just one particular question), which could ultimately result in either a higher or lower  total score. Most appeals result from lack of clarity in formulating answers, andre-reading these answers usually does not make them clearer. Concise and clear writing is your best course of action. Only the grades of exams written using a pen maybe disputed. Problem sets will not be re-graded.

Course Topics

The following is a tentative course plan. In the unlikely event that time permits, we will    cover additional topics. The corresponding chapter number appears after every topic. On   many topics the material in class will not be identical to the material in the corresponding textbook chapter: some material in the book will not be covered, and other material not in the book will be covered. Problem sets and exams will be based on the material covered    in class.

•   Normal-form games (3)

•   Beliefs and expected payoffs (4)

•   Dominance and best responses (5 and 6)

•   Rationalizability and iterated dominance (5 and 7)

•   Applications of rationalizability (8)

•   Nash equilibrium (9 and 10)

•   Nash equilibrium in mixed strategies (11)

•    Subgame perfection (15 and 17)

•   Applications to industrial organization (16)

•   Parlor games (17)

The Department of Economics Policy Regarding Valid Excuses

During the course, many possible situations may arise that would result in your inability to attend class, attend exams, or perform at a minimally acceptable level during an examination. Illness or injury, family emergencies, certain University-approved curricular and extra-curricular activities, and religious holidays can be legitimate reasons to miss class or to be excused from a scheduled examination.

In the case of your own illness or injury, confirmation from a physician, physician’s assistant, a nurse-practitioner, or a nurse is required. Be advised that University Health Services cannot provide such verification unless they have provided treatment and the student authorizes release of information to the instructor. Further, barring extraordinary circumstances, the confirmation must be available to the instructor prior to the missed course event.

With regard to family emergencies, you must provide verifiable documentation of the emergency. Given the vast array of family emergencies, the instructor will provide precise guidance as to what constitutes adequate documentation. Unless the emergency is critical you should notify the instructor in advance of your absence from the scheduled course event. In cases of critical emergencies, you must notify the instructor within one week of your absence.

For University-approved curricular and extra-curricular activities verifiable documentation is also required. The student should obtain from the unit or department sponsoring the activity a letter (or class absence form) indicating the anticipated absence(s). The letter must be presented to the instructor at least one week prior to the first absence.

In the case of religious holidays, the student should notify the instructor by the third week of the course of any potential conflicts.

An important note for final exams:  Early flights home, bus tickets to leave town, and family vacations are NOT valid excuses to miss or reschedule a final exam.

Students should make plans to leave campus AFTER all their scheduled exams are completed.  It is best not to book flights that leave during finals week.  Instructors are  required to give the final exams according to the University schedule, and cannot give makeups or reschedules for non-valid or non-approved excuses.

Note: It is your responsibility to provide timely notification to the instructor of a university-approved excused absence prior to missing an evaluative event. After providing such notification, the usual policy is toreweight future evaluative events.

The Department of Economics Statement on Academic Integrity

The ability of the University to achieve its purposes depends upon the quality and integrity of the academic work that its faculty, staff and students perform. Academic freedom can flourish only in a community of scholars which recognizes that intellectual    integrity, with its accompanying rights and responsibilities, lies at the heart of its mission. Observing basic honesty in one's work, words, ideas, and actions is a principle to which all members of the community are required to subscribe.

All coursework by students is to be done on an individual basis unless an instructor clearly states that an alternative is acceptable. Any reference materials used in the preparation of any assignment must be explicitly cited. In an examination setting, unless the instructor gives explicit prior instructions to the contrary, whether the examination is in-class or take-home, violations of academic integrity shall consist of any attempt to receive assistance from written or printed aids, or from any person or papers or electronic devices, or of any attempt to give assistance, whether the one so doing has completed his  or her own work or not. Other violations include, but are not limited to, any attempt to gain an unfair advantage in regard to an examination, such as tampering with a graded exam or claiming another's work to be one's own.

Violations shall also consist of obtaining or attempting to obtain, previous to any examinations, copies of the examination papers or the questions to appear thereon, or to obtain any illegal knowledge of these questions.

Lying to the instructor or purposely misleading any Penn State administrator shall also constitute a violation of academic integrity.

In cases of a violation of academic integrity it is the policy of the Department of    Economics to impose the most severe penalties that are consistent with University guidelines.

Nondiscrimination Statement

The Pennsylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state of federal authorities. The Pennsylvania State University does not discriminate against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Educational Equity and Bias Reporting Statement

Penn State takes great pride to foster a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. Acts of intolerance, discrimination, or harassment due to age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religious belief, sexual orientation, or veteran status are not tolerated.  Consistent with University Policy AD29, students who believe they have experienced or observed a hate crime, an act of intolerance, discrimination, or harassment that occurs at Penn State are urged to report these incidents as outlined on the University’s Report Bias webpage

(http://equity.psu.edu/reportbias/)

Disability Statement

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities. The Office for Disability Services (ODS) Web site provides contact information for every Penn State campus:http://equity.psu.edu/ods/dcl. For further information, please visit the Office for Disability Services Website:http://equity.psu.edu/ods. 

In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide