Here you find all important information and course material.
The elective module "Microeconomic Analyses of Old Indian Texts" will be offered for the last time in the summer term 2024.
Course enrolment 2024
Modulanmeldung für das Sommersemester 2024 erfolgt über Tool (19.03.2024 bis 26.03.2024). Ab Dienstag, 02.04.24, 9 Uhr (bis 22.04.2024, 23:59 Uhr) Anmeldung über das Nachrückerportal: frzverwaltung.wifa.uni-leipzig.de/NRV
Preparation
The subject matter of this course is the microeconomic interpretation of Old Indian texts, such as the Bhagavad Gita, Indian fables, ordeals, and Kautilya's arthashastra (a manual on wise kingship dealing with taxes, spies, warfare etc.). The microeconomics needed for this course will be provided in the classroom, on the initiative of the students and with the support of the lecturer. See the moodle page of the course for voiced slides and for information on the flipped-classroom concept.
If you want to repeat microeconomic foundations (or build any), you can read:
WIESE: Mikroökonomik (Springer, 2014, 6th edition)
or
VARIAN: Intermediate Microeconomics, (W. Norton & Company, 2010 8th edition.)
You are welcome to download
- the manual for this course together with
- the paper Brahmanical Theories of the Gift
- the paper Ordeals: An economic vindication of Ancient Indian 'Nonsense', accepted for publication in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, subject to editorial input by Cambridge University Press. Full copyright is assigned to SOAS, University of London)
- the paper Judicial Wagers
- the paper Language competition (but not covered in the course)
- the paper The Shapley Value in the Upanishads
- and the slides below.
Slides
Chapter I:
Introduction: Old Indian literature and microeconomics
Part A. Decision theory
Chapter II:
Chapter III:
Decisions
Chapter IV:
Decision theory for the Bhagavad Gita
Chapter V:
Monopoly theory and Kautilya's market tax
Part B. Game theory
Chapter VI:
Noncooperative games
Chapter VII:
Backward induction
Chapter VIII:
Ordeals
Chapter IX:
Judicial Wagers
Chapter X:
Indian Principal Agent Theory
Chapter XI:
The mandala theory
Chapter XII:
[ Language Competition, but this chapter will not be dealt with in class ]
Chapter XIII:
The Shapley Value in the Upanishads
Chapter XIV:
Brahmanical Theories of the Gift
Previous tests