• • understand static and dynamic games, incomplete information games and the Revelation Principle
• • understand the basic problems of coordination and motivation under asymmetric information and the trade-offs involved
• • be familiar with the different classes (types) of contract and mechanism design problems, including hidden action, hidden information, dynamic, multiple agents, and incomplete information problems
• • be able to formalise and solve (simple) contract design problems of the different types
• • be able to link important themes in the business and microeconomic literature with contract theory
• • be able to apply their understanding of contract theory to real contracts (cases) and to balance the multiple objectives and issues involved in such cases.

Contract and agency theory gives a fundamental understanding of motivation and coordination issues under asymmetric information. The theory hereby also provides an analytical basis of micro- and business economics.

The course consists of three parts. In the first part, we cover game theoretical results and in particular, we discuss static games, dynamic games including repeated games, and Bayesian games. In the second part, the basic ideas of contract theory are presented. We will in particular analyse contracts, where one party has hidden information (adverse selection) and/or can take a hidden action (moral hazard). We will also discuss some more advanced models with multiple agents, multiple periods etc. In addition, we will cover key aspects of more general mechanism design and discuss incomplete contracts. The aim of this part is to get a good understanding of the basic trade-offs involved, e.g. motivation versus risk sharing, and the basic mechanisms (such as information collection, menu of contracts, signalling etc). The aim is also to train the students to actually make optimal contracts and related mechanisms in simple settings by formulation and solving the associated mathematical programmes. In the third part, we use the developed theories to analyse important economic issues in both organisational and market contexts. The choice of topics shall be coordinated with the other courses in the programme, but could naturally include subjects such as allocation of decision rights, relative performance evaluation, yardstick competitions and regulation, career concern, CEO payment schemes, capital acquisition, capital budgeting, transfer pricing etc. In this part we also develop a holistic approach to contract design. The aim is to give a systematic approach that can be used to design new contracts or improve existing ones. The students will be asked to analyse key characteristic of a specific contract, e.g. a contract used in an actual supply chain. The course builds on decision theory, game theory and microeconomics. A good understanding of mathematics and statistics is an advantage.