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Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences

John L. and Helen Kellogg Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences

Co-Director, Math Center

Chair, Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences Department

Portrait of Sandeep Baligal, Faculty at the Kellogg School of Management
Sandeep Baliga is the John L and Helen Kellogg Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences in the MEDS Department at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Professor Baliga uses game theory to study fundamental issues in economics and political science. He is writing a book bringing together the game-theoretic research in international relations into one over-encompassing framework. He is currently studying the optimal combination of targeted and comprehensive sanctions to maximize persuasion and factors that might make wars last a long time. He has published in journals including the American Economic Review, American Political Science Review, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Political Economy, RAND Journal of Economics, Review of Economic Studies and the Review of Financial Studies. Baliga was an Advisory Editor at Games and Economic Behavior, Managing Editor of the Berkeley Electronic Press Journals in Theoretical Economics and Associate Editor of the European Economic Review. He is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Professor Baliga read Economics at St. John's College, Cambridge University and received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University. He has been on sabbatical at the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, Boston University, MIT and, most recently, Harvard. He was a Fulbright Scholar and an invited Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

He is the co-creator of Purple Pricing, an innovative auction method that was used by Northwestern University to sell football and basketball tickets. In his spare time, Professor Baliga likes to drink wine and play guitar, though not at the same time.

About Sandeep
Research interests
  • Game-theoretic approach to international relations; game theory; mechanism design; contract theory; theory of the firm;
Teaching interests
  • Competitive strategy and industrial structure; crisis management; international relations
  • PhD, 1993, Economics, Harvard University
    BA, 1988, Cambridge University, Double First Class Honors
  • Visiting Associate Professor, Economics, Boston University and M.I.T., 2009-2010
    Visiting Professor, Economics, Harvard University, 2015-2016
    Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
    Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, 2000-2001
    Berry-Ramsey Junior Research Fellow, King's College, Cambridge University, 1993-1997
  • Excellence in Refereeing Award for the AER, American Economic Review
    Excellence in Refereeing Award, American Economic Review
    Excellence in Refereeing, American Economic Review, 2014
    Google Research Award, Google, 2014-2016
    Excellence in Refereeing, The American Economic Review, 2013
  • Associate Editor, Games and Economic Behavior, 2021
    Editor, Berkeley Electronic Press Journals in Theoretical Economics, 2011-2013
    Associate Editor, European Economic Review, 2003-2009

Political Economy II: Conflict and Cooperation (MECS-540-2)

This course offers a theoretical treatment of conflict. Conflict often arises even though there is some cooperative solution that would have satisfied all the relevant actors. The course studies the fundamental causes of conflict (positive analysis) and possible solutions that create cooperation (normative analysis). This course might be of interest to students in applied theory, political economy or development.