IM 7011

Information Economics

Instructor: Ling-Chieh Kung

Department of Information Management

National Taiwan University


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About this Course

In the field of Information Economics (or Economics of Information), people use economic tools to study the value and impact of information. Information is not only important in the information industry; it has critical impacts in almost all business activities. In this course, we will study how to apply economic modeling to rigorously analyze information-related issues, especially information asymmetry. Applications that we will study lie in marketing, supply chain management, information systems, among others. Students will be required to read textbooks as well as some academic papers. This is a course teaching students how to do academic research with a specific research method. To comfortably take this course, one is suggested to have adequate background in calculus, nonlinear optimization, game theory, and probability.

This is an elective course offered in the Department of Information Management in National Taiwan University. The target "customers" of this course are graduate and senior students, though junior students may still enroll in this course. In most cases, all students who want to enroll in or audit this course are welcome.

Basic information

Instructor
  • Ling-Chieh Kung (孔令傑)
  • E-mail: lckung(AT)ntu.edu.tw
  • Office: Room 413, Management Building II
  • Tel: 02-3366-1176.
Prerequisites
  • Students need to know the basic ideas of calculus, optimization, and probability.
  • Some knowledge about game theory will be helpful.
References
  • Information Rules by C. Shapiro and H. Varian.
  • Freakonomics S. Levitt and S. Dubner.
  • Contract Theory by P. Bolton and M. Dewatripont.
  • Game Theory for Applied Economists by R. Gibbons.

Lecture materials

Week Topic Lecture Video Pre-lecture Problem
1 Review of optimization Slides Video N/A
2 Review of game theory Slides Playlist Problems
3 Channel selection under competition Slides Playlist Problems
4 Channel coordination with returns Slides Playlist Problems
5 No class: National holiday N/A N/A N/A
6 Retail and delivery platforms Handout N/A Problems
7 The screening theory Slides Playlist Problems
8 Endogenous adverse selection Slides Playlist Problems
9 The signaling theory Slides, Handout Playlist Problems
10 Signaling quality through specialization Slides Playlist Problems

Problem Sets