Information and Learning in Economic Theory

TL;DR

This paper provides comprehensive lecture notes on information and learning in economic theory, covering key concepts like Bayesian updating, common knowledge, and information design, for graduate-level education.

Contribution

It offers an organized, in-depth overview of fundamental topics in information and learning within economic theory, serving as educational material.

Findings

Clarifies the role of common knowledge and Bayesian updating in economic models

Explores the Blackwell order and cost of information in decision-making

Discusses model uncertainty and information design strategies

Abstract

These lecture notes accompany a one-semester graduate course on information and learning in economic theory. Topics include common knowledge, Bayesian updating, monotone-likelihood ratio properties, affiliation, the Blackwell order, cost of information, learning and merging of beliefs, model uncertainty, model misspecification, and information design.