Microeconomic Theory Microeconomic theory concentrates on the study of the determination of relative prices and their importance in shaping the allocation of resources and the distribution of income in an economy. We will study the optimizing behavior of households in a variety of settings: buying goods and services, saving, and labor supply decisions. We will also examine the behavior of firms in different market structures. Together, the theories of household and firm behavior help illumine contemporary economic issues (discrimination in labor markets, mergers in the corporate world, positive and negative externalities, for example).

Game Theory Game theory is general in scope and has been used to provide theoretical foundations for phenomena in most of the social and behavioral sciences. Economic examples include market organization, bargaining, and the provision of public goods. Examples from other behavioral sciences include social dilemmas and population dynamics. In this course students will learn the basics of what constitutes a game and how games are solved.

Research in Behavioral and Experimental Economics In this seminar we will consider current research topics in behavioral and experimental economics. Although the theme for the course is likely to change from semester to semester, all students will design their own study, gather decision-making data, and write a research paper summarizing their main findings.

Senior Research Workshop II In this second semester of the senior research workshop sequence, the focus is on the execution of the research plan developed in ECON 0701.  Most instruction is now one-on-one but the workshop will still meet as a group to discuss and practice the presentation of results in various formats (seminars, poster sessions, et cetera) to the rest of the workshop and others in the college and broader communities. Feedback and critiques from such presentations will be incorporated into the project, which will culminate in a research paper in the style of an economics journal article.

Senior Research Workshop I In this first semester, students will design and begin their projects. Emphasis will be on designing a novel research question (while making the case for its importance) and an appropriate strategy for answering it. This requires immersion in the academic literature on the topic. General research principles and tools will be taught in class, as a group, while those specific to individual projects will be covered in one-on-one meetings. By the end of the term, students will outline their plan for completing the project, including demonstrating that it is a feasible research question for which the necessary information (e.g., data or source materials) is available or can be generated by the student (e.g., lab or other experiment).

Jeffrey Carpenter

Reviews and ratings for Jeffrey Carpenter at Middlebury College.Jeffrey Carpenter teaches Micro Theory, Game Theory, Research in Behav. & Exp. Econ and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Jeffrey Carpenter good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

Jeffrey Carpenter is incredibly funny, helpful, and well versed in his area of expertise. I would definitely recommend to all of my friends that are interested in Game Theory to take this course. The tests were difficult but he provides a lot of office hours and practice problems before each test. 

Professor carpenter was a very chill semester, but expect lots of problem sets and 4 exams. Lectures were easy to pay attention for the most part but sometimes material would get confusing. Still recommend taking this class if the material interests you, otherwise gets boring.

Jeff Carpenter genuinely has so much aura. I learned some great stuff about equilibriums and auctions and games, too. The problem sets take a bit of time, but they prepare you well for the tests. Overall, I would recommend.