MG409 Half Unit
Auctions and Game Theory
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Prof Richard Steinberg
Availability
This course is available on the CEMS Exchange, Global MSc in Management, Global MSc in Management (CEMS MIM), MBA Exchange, MSc in Economics and Management, MSc in Management (1 Year Programme) and MSc in Management and Strategy. This course is freely available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. It does not require permission. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
How to apply:
Places on oversubscribed courses will be allocated via a random ballot process with priority given to students with the course in their Programme Regulations, followed by other Department of Management students, then students from elsewhere in the school. Providing you apply before the Department deadline of 10am on Monday 29 September 2025, the time you applied will not be taken into account. Please be aware that places on high demand courses cannot be guaranteed. By submitting an application, students are confirming that they meet any pre-requisites specified. Providing an additional written statement will not aid a student’s chances of being accepted onto a course, and statements are not read.
For further information and updates on course availability during Week 1, please see the Department of Management Electives Moodle page.
Deadline for application:
Please apply by 10am on Monday 29 September 2025 with your first course choices. No allocations are made before this date and time.
For queries contact:
Please view the Department of Management Electives page for contact emails.
This course may be capped/subject to controlled access. For further information about the course's availability, please see the MG Elective Course Selection Moodle page (https://moodle.lse.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3840).
Requisites
Additional requisites:
Students should have a course equivalent to the LSE course Quantitative Methods (Mathematics) (MA107), which covers techniques of basic calculus and linear algebra, with emphasis on their application to economic problems. Students should also have some knowledge of probability.
Course content
The course provides an introduction to auctions and game theory. Topics covered are: noncooperative games, cooperative games, social choice, dynamic games, auctions, and combinatorial auctions. In addition to the theory, a significant portion of the course will discuss applications. Specifically, four one-hour lectures each will be devoted to a single real-world application: caller display, competing Internet service providers, public housing space, and spectrum. We will also devote a two-hour lecture session to a Harvard Business School case based on five real-world applications of auctions: publishing, professional sport, on-line auctions, state privatization, and mergers and acquisitions. (Students planning to enrol on MG473 Negotiation Analysis might wish to consider enrolling on this course as well, as the topic of auctions and game theory is complementary to that of negotiation analysis. Note, however, that MG409 Auctions and Game Theory has a mathematics pre-requisite.)
Teaching
12 hours of seminars and 16 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.
2 hours of lectures in the Spring Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.
In its Ethics Code, LSE upholds a commitment to intellectual freedom. This means we will protect the freedom of expression of our students and staff and the right to engage in healthy debate in the classroom.
Formative assessment
Very full lecture notes are provided, and every week a set of problems is given out in the lecture. These are discussed in the following seminars.
Indicative reading
- Book: P. Cramton, Y. Shoham, and R. Steinberg, eds., Combinatorial Auctions.
- Book chapter: ‘Auction Pricing’, R. Steinberg, Chapter 27 in O. Ozer and R. Phillips, eds., Oxford Handbook of Pricing Management.
- Case study: ‘Auction Vignettes’, Harvard Business School Publishing.
Assessment
Exam (100%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period
Key facts
Department: Management
Course Study Period: Winter and Spring Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 23
Average class size 2024/25: 12
Controlled access 2024/25: YesCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.