Microeconomic Theory

Theory is the foundation of economics, as well as a practical tool used to some extent in every other subfield. A few students focus on theory as their primary field, but many more study theory in order to apply it to other methodologies. Students in other fields have used their expertise in theory to produce outstanding research. The theory group is also well connected to the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, the School of Information, and the Finance group in the Ross School of Business. Faculty and graduate students from these departments often attend our courses and seminars.

You will meet many of the theory faculty in your first year microeconomic theory sequence. We also teach a second year theory sequence in which we focus on deepening students’ understanding of theory beyond the first year curriculum, and take students to the research frontier. We have particular research interests in repeated games, decision theory, mechanism design, information design, social choice, and social networks.