ELECTIVE COURSE -> not offered every semester
Learning objectives:
When individuals, groups or organizations become economically active, decisions must practically always be made. Decision theory is concerned with the goal-oriented actions of decision-makers who have the freedom to choose from a number of alternative decision options. The Decision Theory course aims to offer well-researched tools for making "rational" and "better" economic decisions (normative) and also to explain how real decisions are made in business practice (descriptive).
Students should:
be able to recognize, understand and critically discuss how economic decision-making processes are rational (or intentionally rational),
be able to classify and formally describe different decision-making scenarios that occur in business practice,
be able to practically apply methods proposed by decision theory to typical example scenarios from everyday business life,
develop the ability to recognize and discuss the possibilities and limitations of decision theory on the basis of numerous examples,
be able to critically discuss the problem of how "rational decision-making" and "optimal decisions" can be defined and adequate solutions identified.
Course content:
Normative and descriptive decision theory
Basic model of decision theory (axiomatics, preference functions, result matrix, utility measurement, decision rule)
Formal representation of single-stage and multi-stage decision scenarios
Decisions under certainty, risk and uncertainty
Information procurement in uncertain decision scenarios
Decisions by decision-making bodies
(Interactive decision theory or "game theory" is not covered)
