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game theory explains why things happen
illustration : side-botched lizzards
Player X | ||||
rock | paper | scissors | ||
Player Y | rock | 0 0 | -1 1 | 1 -1 |
paper | 1 -1 | 0 0 | -1 1 | |
scissors | -1 1 | 1 -1 | 0 0 |
Sinervo & Lively (1996)
task : find cases where game theory explains things
?
game theory
Aim: describe rational behaviour in social interactions.
How you should act (in a noncooperative, one-off game):
Entails:
Resisting (‘cooperating’) is not rational in the Prisoner’s Dilemma.
Choosing ‘Low’ in Hi-Low is rational.
cutthroat competition in business is the result of the rivals being trapped in a prisoners’ dilemma’
(Dixit et al., 2014, p. 36)
Games with the Prisoner’s Dilemma structure arise in:
bower birds (maraud/guard nests)
business organisations (product pricing)
countries (international environmental policy)
individual adult humans (suspects under arrest)
(Dixit et al., 2014, p. chapter 10)
Prisoner X | |||
resist | confess | ||
Prisoner Y | resist | 3 3 | 0 4 |
confess | 4 0 | 1 1 |
?
game theory
Aim: describe rational behaviour in social interactions.
How you should act (in a noncooperative, one-off game):
Entails:
Resisting (‘cooperating’) is not rational in the Prisoner’s Dilemma.
Choosing ‘Low’ in Hi-Low is rational.
Player X | |||
high | low | ||
Player Y | high | 2 2 | 0 0 |
low | 0 0 | 1 1 |
An action is rational
in a noncooperative game
if it is a member of a nash equilibrium?
?
game theory
Aim: describe rational behaviour in social interactions.
How you should act (in a noncooperative, one-off game):
Entails:
Resisting (‘cooperating’) is not rational in the Prisoner’s Dilemma.
Choosing ‘Low’ in Hi-Low is rational.
‘understanding why game theory does not, in the end, constitute the science of society (even though it comes close) is terribly important in understanding the nature and complexity of social processes’
(Hargreaves-Heap & Varoufakis, 2004, p. 3)
PS
Maybe there are other kinds of eqilibrium?