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Research Summary

Game Theory for Business Strategy

Game theory--the mathematical study of strategic interactions--came of age, in a sense, when three of the field's pioneers were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994. Yet despite the development of the theory and the widespread use of game-theoretic jargon in... View Details

March 2018 (Revised September 2020)
Background Note

Short Note on Game Theory

By: Eric Van den Steen and Dennis Yao

This note provides a very concise (2 page) introduction to game theory. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Interaction; Commitment; Game Theory; Competitive Strategy

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November 2006
Background Note

Technical Game Theory Note #1: Solving Bi-matrix Games

Explains how to solve bi-matrix games and introduces the Nash Equilibrium concept. View Details

Keywords: Game Theory; Mathematical Methods; Learning; Balance and Stability; Planning; Strategic Planning; Performance Improvement; Strategy; Games, Gaming, and Gambling

Article

Games of Threats

By: Elon Kohlberg and Abraham Neyman

A game of threats on a finite set of players, N, is a function d that assigns a real number to any coalition, S ⊆ N, such that d(S) = -d(N\S). A game of threats is not necessarily a coalitional game as it may fail to satisfy the condition d(Ø) = 0. We show that analogs... View Details

Keywords: Shapley Value; Coalitional Game; Game Theory; Mathematical Methods

July 2007
Article

A Two-Person Game of Information Transmission

By: Jerry R. Green and Nancy L. Stokey

We consider a statistical decision problem faced by a two player organization whose members may not agree on outcome evaluations and prior probabilities. One player is specialized in gathering information and transmitting it to the other, who takes the decision. This... View Details

Keywords: Game Theory; Cheap Talk; Communication Games; Communication; Information

November 2006
Background Note

Technical Game Theory Note #6: Multiple-Round Games and Reputations

Provides a game theory-based interpretation of reputations and reputation building. View Details

Keywords: Game Theory; Mathematical Methods; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Reputation; Debates; Strategy; Performance Consistency; Performance Improvement; Strategic Planning; Education Industry

Research Summary

The Equilibrium Concept in Game Theory

By: Elon Kohlberg

Elon Kohlberg is studying the foundations of the equilibrium concept in game theory, which is to the study of economic systems what the notion of "equilibrium of forces" is to the study of mechanical systems. Although much of economic theory can be viewed in... View Details

1976
Article

The Asymptotic Theory of Stochastic Games

By: Truman F. Bewley and Elon Kohlberg

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Theory

November 2006
Background Note

Technical Game Theory Note #4: Contracting and Strategic Alliances

Provides a game theory-based interpretation of contracting and strategic alliances and introduces the problem of moral hazard. View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Alliances; Game Theory

Article

United's Frequent-Flier Program Gets Some Game Theory

By: Scott Duke Kominers

2002
Book

Game Theory in the Tradition of Bob Wilson

By: Bengt Holmstrom, Paul Milgrom and Alvin E Roth

Keywords: Game Theory

November 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Background Note

Technical Game Theory Note #3: The Relationship Between Bimatrix and Extensive-Form Games and the Meaning of "Strategy"

Discusses extensive-form games and relates them to bimatrix games. View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Game Theory

2000
Chapter

Game Theory as a Tool for Market Design

By: A. E. Roth

Keywords: Game Theory; Market Design

January 1991
Article

Game Theory as a Part of Empirical Economics

By: A. E. Roth

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Theory; Economics

Article

Game Theory and the Legal Analysis of Tacit Collusion

By: Dennis Yao and Susan DeSanti

May 2012
Article

Correlation in the Multiplayer Electronic Mail Game

By: Peter A. Coles and Ran Shorrer

In variants of the Electronic Mail Game (Rubinstein, 1989) where two or more players communicate via multiple channels, the multiple channels can facilitate collective action via redundancy, the sending of the same message along multiple paths or else repeatedly along... View Details

Keywords: Electronic Mail Game; Stag Hunt; Coordination; Signaling; Networks; Behavior; Communication; Trust; Game Theory

November 2006
Background Note

Technical Game Theory Note #5: Private Information and Signaling Models

Discusses private information and signaling. View Details

Keywords: Information; Game Theory

2014
Working Paper

The NTU-Value of Stochastic Games

By: Elon Kohlberg and Abraham Neyman

Since the seminal paper of Shapley, the theory of stochastic games has been developed in many different directions. However, there has been practically no work on the interplay between stochastic games and cooperative game theory. Our purpose here is to make a first... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Game Theory