The Economics of Information

Synopsis

A first-edition textbook for the Economics of Information class at the Faculty of Business Administration in Foreign Languages of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. It sets out the outline of each lecture together with worked examples, case studies and links to further reading, and is meant to be used alongside the lectures rather than in place of them.

The chapters cover robots, RPA, artificial intelligence and the future of work; platforms and the sharing economy, with case studies on AirBNB and Uber; blockchain and smart contracts, including Georgia's land registry; information asymmetry; the principal-agent problem; game theory; markets and price signals; price differentiation; big data, privacy and the GDPR, with a Romanian enforcement case; big tech against big government; social media and fake news; intellectual property, illustrated by the Wright brothers' patents and the Curtiss Company; crowdsourcing; and outsourcing.

Readings in the Further Reading sections are not all to be taken at face value: a few articles containing logical fallacies are included deliberately, so that the range of opinion on a topic is visible and critical thinking is exercised.

Students and teachers at other universities are welcome to use the material. Interesting examples and constructive feedback that could improve future editions are welcome and will be credited to contributors if included.