The digital revolution is gradually changing our daily life, as well as the economy. The Digital Economy Summer School will deal with some of the challenges that regulators and policymakers face due to this technological revolution.
The courses will be taught by leading experts in different areas of the digital economy, and we will emphasize practical applications and discussion of policy relevant problems.
This year we offer two courses that provide fundamental tools to understand and contribute to the digital economy. Emilio Calvano will teach the latest developments in artificial intelligence, how basic algorithms work and how they will affect the functioning of markets. Guillaume Haeringer will help us understand the mechanisms behind blockchain technology and its most important applications, cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, NFT among others.
Course list for 2023
Week of June 26 - 30, 2023 (Face-to-face)
- Economics of Artificial Intelligence
Instructor: Emilio Calvano (University of Rome - Tor Vergata, TSE and CEPR) - Economics of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain
Instructor: Guillaume Haeringer (Baruch College and Columbia University)
Program director
Apply to Summer School 2023
There is no fee to apply. Submit your application online in a few easy steps!
Apply to Summer School courses
Early-bird registration deadline: April 14, 2023
Last day to apply: June 1, 2023
Fees and discounts
Fees vary by course. You may be eligible for one or more available Summer School discounts. Our staff can provide a personalized quote for you.
Questions about Summer School?
Let us design a course for your employees at any time of year.
Economics of Artificial Intelligence
Course Overview
Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms are increasingly crowding our markets and, more broadly, shaping our societies. The impact of learning algorithms on competition in “digital” markets is an issue of great importance in policy circles and increasingly studied in academic work.
This short course will bring students to the frontier of research on the Economics of Artificial Intelligence with particular emphasis on competition policy. We will focus on some of the topics that will pose imminent and relevant challenges in this rapidly evolving area for economic research and policymakers.
This course is particularly suitable to advanced graduate students looking for a dissertation topic as well as practitioners seeking to catch up with state-of-the-art academic research on digital markets.
Course Outline
- What is AI? Concepts and tools
- Economics of AI: a helicopter tour:
a) AI as a general purpose technology
b) Effect of automation and the labor share
c) AI and marketplaces - Competing and colluding pricing algorithms:
a) Theoretical and experimental results
b) Pricing algorithms in the wild - Shaping consumer choices: the economics of recommender systems
a) Case study: Spotify playlists - Automating bidding in auctions
a) Collusion
b) Optimal Auction design - Algorithms and public policy
a) The EU initiatives
b) How can Economics inform the regulatory debate?
c) Algorithmic discrimination
About the Instructor
Emilio Calvano (PhD, Toulouse School of Economics, 2008) is a full professor of Economics at the University of Rome - Tor Vergata, associate faculty at the Toulouse School of Economics and research fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research in London (CEPR). He is an applied theoretical economist whose research mainly focuses on the theory of Industrial Organization.
He has published in top international peer-reviewed outlets such as Science Magazine, American Economic Review, Management Science, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, Economic Journal and International Journal of Industrial Organization and is associate editor at the Journal of Industrial Economics.
His research interests include the economics of artificial intelligence, the economics of platforms, information economics and competition policy. His recent work studies the impact of AI powered algorithms (such as pricing software and recommender systems) on digital markets.
The Economics of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain
Course Overview
Since the creation of Bitcoin in 2009 we have witnessed the creation of many other cryptocurrencies and the development of tools for this new technology: smart contracts, tokens, Dapps, defi, etc. The objective of this course is to offer a deep presentation of the Bitcoin and Ethereum systems, with an emphasis on the underlying economic aspects.
A clear understanding of how cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies work will be useful to gauge what are the real novelties, identify the pitfalls and discuss what exactly blockchain technologies can bring and cannot bring. We will then explore what are the potential applications of blockchain and smart contract technologies.
Course Outline- The Bitcoin design: general overview and history
This part of the course will provide participants with a thorough description of blockchain technologies, which will allow for a clear understanding of the role of each element of the design and how those elements complement each other. Keywords: Elements of cryptography, Haber & Stornetta’s blockchain, proof-of-work, digital-peer-to-peer currency. - Game theoretic analysis of Bitcoin
Since the creation of Bitcoin, a number of vulnerabilities have been discovered. This part of the course will overview the main issues and discuss their economic consequences. Keywords: Longest chain rule equilibrium, pool mining, economics limit of Bitcoin, attacks - Ethereum
Ethereum is a major milestone in the history of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Its design differs substantially from Bitcoin’s and opens the way for richer applications such as smart contracts and tokens. Understanding their exact implementation is key to understand what such functionalities bring (and do not bring). Keywords: Smart contracts, proof-of-stake (benefits and pitfalls), tokens. - Is it all about digitization?
Most economic studies about blockchain technologies are in fact highlighting the potential benefit of digitization (more than the benefit of using blockchain technologies). This part of the course will overview where are the benefits of digitization and discuss when blockchain technologies can enhance such benefits. Keywords: Smart contracts and sensors, supply chain - Crowdfunding and Non-fungible tokens
Most tokens are primarily used as vehicles to launch new cryptocurrencies, although many of them were in fact initially designed to be used for specific applications. This part of the course will overview the economic value of tokens. Keywords: ICO, utility tokens, network effects.
About the Instructor
Guillaume Haeringer (PhD, Université de Strasbourg) is a Professor of Economics at the Zicklin Business School at Baruch College in New York. His research focuses on market design, game theory, and social choice.
Much of his recent investigation concerns the study of matching markets, which involves the use of theoretical advancements to analyze real-life situations and design practical solutions that can be implemented by policymakers.
He has published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Economic Theory, Games and Economic Behavior and the International Journal of Game Theory. He is the author of a textbook on market design published by MIT Press, and a book on Bitcoin (with Hanna Halaburda and Miklos Sarvary) on Bitcoin published by Palgrave-MacMillan.
- The Bitcoin design: general overview and history
Who will benefit from this program?
The program targets advanced undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and practitioners that want to understand how the so-called new economy works.
Entry requirements
Applicants to all Summer School programs should meet the basic entry requirements.
Credit transfers (ECTS)
Students will deliver a short research proposal one week after the summer school finishes. It will consist of 3-4 pages, 1.5 spaced, font size 11, with a clear research question, a motivation (introduce the question and its policy relevance), a discussion of the existing literature and how your paper relates to that, and an explanation on how you would approach the questions (empirical strategy and/or theoretical model).
Consult the Credit Transfer Page for more information about this option.
Certificate of attendance
Participants not interested in credit transfer will instead receive a Certificate of Attendance, stating the courses and number of hours completed. These students will be neither evaluated nor graded. There is no fee for the certificate.
Fees
The price of each course includes all lecture hours and practical hours. Multiple course discounts are available. Fees for courses in other Summer School programs may vary.
Multiple course discounts are available. Fees for courses in other Summer School programs may vary.
| Course | Modality | Lecture Hours | ECTS | Regular Fee | Reduced Fee* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economics of Artificial Intelligence | Face-to-face | 10 | 1 | 1125€ | 625€ |
| Economics of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain | Face-to-face | 10 | 1 | 1125€ | 625€ |
* Reduced Fee applies for PhD or Master's students, Alumni of BSE Master's programs, and participants who are unemployed.
See more information about available discounts or request a personalized discount quote by email.
Course schedule
The schedule is designed to allow students to participate in both courses. Courses can also be taken individually or in combination with courses in other BSE Summer School programs, schedule permitting.
| Day / Time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 - 11:00 | Economics of Artificial Intelligence | ||||
| 11:30 - 13:30 | Economics of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain | ||||
Mix and match your summer courses!
Remember that you can combine Digital Economy courses with courses in any of the other BSE Summer School programs (schedule permitting).