COS 445: Economics and Computation

Spring 2026

Resources

In this course we will study a variety of topics on the cusp between economics and computation. Topics to be covered include: game theory, auctions, mechanism design and cryptocurrencies.

The aim of the course is two-fold: (1) to understand the game-theoretic issues behind systems involving computation such as online networks, and (2) to learn how algorithms and algorithmic thinking can help with designing better decision and allocation mechanisms in the offline world.

Staff

Instructors: Mark Braverman (mbraverm@cs.), Marcel Dall'Agnol (dallagnol@)

Graduate TAs: Eric Xue (ex3782@), Jingyi Liu (jingyi.liu@), Qianfan Zhang (qianfan@), Stephen Newman (stephen.newman@)

Undergraduate Course Staff: TBA

  • What to expect from this course: FAQ
  • Prerequisite skills/math: cheatsheet on background skills/math required for this course
  • Discussion and announcements: Ed
  • Assignment submissions: Gradescope
  • Course policies

Schedule

Lecture Mon/Wed 10:40am-12am Aaron Burr 219 Marcel/Mark
Precept P01 Wednesday 3:30pm-4:20pm CS 302 Eric
Precept P02 Wednesday 3:30pm-4:20pm CS 402 Qianfan
Precept P04 Thursday 3:30-4:20pm JRR A01 Stephen
Precept P07 Friday 10:40am-11:30am Friend 009 Jingyi

Office Hours

Monday 12:15-1:15pm Corwin 034 Marcel
Tuesday 4-6pm CS 301 Eric
Wednesday 1:30-3:30pm CS 302 Qianfan
Thursday 4-6pm CS 401* Jingyi
Thursday* 6-8pm CS 402 Stephen
Friday 2-3pm Corwin 034 Marcel

Homework

Your homework must be submitted as a PDF file. You can scan or photograph handwritten solutions, but are encouraged to use LaTeX or another math-document-editor. If you have never used LaTeX, here is a short guide. You might also want to use Overleaf, is an online LaTeX editor and compiler.

Due Date Assignment
02/02 Warmup PSet
02/09 PSet 1
02/16 PSet 2 (Mock Exam)
03/02 SD 1
03/10 SD 2
03/23 PSet 3
03/30 SD 3
04/13 PSet 4
04/20 SD 4
04/27 SD 5

Lectures and Exams

Some shorthand for the reading material:

  • Rx = Tim Roughgarden's lecture notes x
  • KPx = Karlin and Peres chapter x
  • EKx = Easley and Kleinberg chapter x
  • NRTVx = Nisan, Roughgarden, Tardos and Vazirani chapter x (Click link --> resources --> Algorithmic Game Theory --> Algorithmic Game Theory)
  • BCELPx = Brandt, Conitzer, Endriss, Lang, Procaccia chapter x (Click link --> resources --> resources --> online version. To find the password, visit Vince Conitzer's webpage)
Date Topic Supplemental Reading Material
01/26 Braess' Paradox, Stable Matching I R1, R2, KP10.1, KP10.2, NRTV10.4, Wikipedia
01/28 Stable Matching II R1, R2, KP10.3, NRTV10.4
02/02 Matching III KP10.4, NRTV10.3
02/04 Matching IV This paper
02/09 Voting Theory I KP13, BCELP2
02/11 Voting Theory II R4, BCELP2, EK23.6, NRTV10.2
02/16 Game Theory I KP4, R5, EK6
02/18 Game Theory II KP4, KP6, R5
02/23 Midterm Exam 1
02/25 Linear Programming Sections 1 & 4 here
03/02 Game Theory III KP2
03/04 Information Cascades EK16
03/10 Spring Break
03/12 Spring Break
03/16 Auction Theory I R13, EK9.1-9.5
03/18 Auction Theory II R14, R15, KP 15.1-15.3
03/23 Auction Theory III R14, R16, EK9.7
03/25 Auction Theory IV KP14.4, KP14.6
03/30 Midterm Exam 2
04/01 Cryptocurrencies I Chapter 1
04/06 Cryptocurrencies II "Selfish Mining" attack, notes on Ed
04/08 Cake Cutting BCELP13, KP11
04/13 Price of Anarchy I R7, NRTV18.1-18.3, KP8.1, KP8.4
04/15 Price of Anarchy II R7, NRTV18.1-18.3, KP8.1, KP8.4
04/20 Behavioral Game Theory I Notes on Ed, R19
04/22 Behavioral Game Theory II R19
05/10 Final Exam