The objective of this course is to introduce students to the theory of optimal contracting in economics. The course is intended to be suitable for empirically oriented PhD students working in applied microeconomics, accounting, and finance, in addition to economic theorists. We will jump around to a variety of topics, going through older seminal results and then presenting a quick tour across a range of recent work. Topics include incentive contracts under moral hazard and adverse selection, price discrimination, relational contracts, robustness, delegation, and others.
