Course List

In this graduate seminar we will study recent theoretical research and methods in political economy. We place particular emphasis on developing an understanding of foundational concepts and models that are prominent in modern political economy applications, such as the principal-agent model and contract theory, models of collective action, dynamic models with an emphasis on commitment problems, models of persuasion, and models of signaling and signal jamming, among others. The course will be a hybrid of lectures and student presentations. This course complements Modern Political Economy B, which approaches the same topics from an empirical perspective, and it is strongly recommended that students take this course and Modern Political Economy B. Students enrolling in this course ideally would have taken PSCI 407, 408, and 584.