Discover how mechanism design theory uses incentives and game theory to achieve desired outcomes in economics and businesses while overcoming self-interest challenges.

This is part of our “Econ Extra Credit” project, where we read an introductory economics textbook provided by the nonprofit Core Econ together with our listeners. Robots are doing their part during ...

Explore how backward induction helps solve game theory problems by working from the end backward to determine optimal actions ...

Human behavior drives the evolution of biological organisms in ways that can profoundly adversely impact human welfare. Understanding people's incentives when they do so is essential to identify ...

An American and an American Israeli were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday for fostering the understanding of conflict and cooperation -- in matters such as nuclear arms ...

So you’re standing at the edge of a cliff, chained by the ankle to someone else. You’ll be released, and one of you will get a large prize, as soon as the other gives in. How do you persuade the other ...

Ever wonder how nodes are incentivized in a blockchain to ensure trust, consensus and cooperation in a system with no central authority? The answer lies in game theory, the mathematical study of ...

I n the epilogue of their blockbuster book Mostly Harmless Econometrics (2009), Josh Angrist and Steve Pischke write, “If applied econometrics were easy, theorists would do it.” As academic jokes go, ...

Economic uncertainty, like we are living through right now, can make regular purchasing decisions challenging. Even more so decisions around big life moments, like changing your job, buying a house or ...