Readings in Games and Information

by Rasmusen, Eric

• ISBN13: 9780631215578
• ISBN10: 0631215573
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-06-08
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This highly original collection brings together contemporary articles from a variety of sources to present the key topics in game theory. The book includes a combination of classic and contemporary readings from a range of books and journals that together present a complete resource for students and researchers of game theory.

Author Biography

Eric Rasmusen is Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy and Sanjay Subhedar Faculty Fellow at Indiana University, and has also held positions at UCLA, the University of Chicago, Harvard, and Yale. He has published in the areas of anti-trust, industrial organization, political economy, law and economics, and game theory.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
Part One The Rules of the Game
Introduction	3	(2)
The Prisoner's Dilemma	5	(2)
Philip D. Straffin, Jr.
A Two-Person Dilemma	7	(2)
Albert Tucker
Equilibrium Points in N-Person Games	9	(1)
John F. Nash, Jr.
Non-Cooperative Games	10	(11)
John F. Nash, Jr.
To Ensure High Prices, Some Haulers Have Been Known to Break the Rules	21	(2)
Jeff Bailey
Cash Flow: `Pay to Play' is Banned, But Muni-Bond Firms Keep the Game Going	23	(5)
Charles Gasparino
Josh P. Hamilton
School of Genius	28	(8)
Sylvia Nasar
Cartoon: Ratbert the Consultant	36	(5)
Scott Adams
Part Two Information
Introduction	39	(2)
The Donation Booth	41	(5)
Ian Ayres
Jeremy Bulow
The Horatii and the Curiatii	46	(3)
Livy
TREES - A Decision-Maker's Lament	49	(1)
Michael H. Rothkopf
Knowing and Showing Economics and Law	50	(6)
Judith Lachman
Cartoon: ``All Those in Favor, Say `Aye'''	56	(5)
Henry Martin
Part Three Mixed and Continuous Strategies
Introduction	59	(2)
Colonel Blotto: A Problem of Military Strategy	61	(3)
John McDonald
John W. Tukey
Dutch Accountants Take on a Formidable Task: Ferreting Out ``Cheaters'' in the Ranks of OPEC	64	(2)
Paul Hemp
Shipping Price-Fixing Pacts Hurt Consumers, Critics Say	66	(5)
Anna Wilde Mathews
The Conference Handbook	71	(3)
George Stigler
Cartoon: ``Very Guilty''	74	(5)
Jim Unger
Part Four Dynamic Games with Symmetric Information
Introduction	77	(2)
On An Application of Set Theory to the Theory of the Game of Chess	79	(4)
Ernst Zermelo
The Strategy of Conflict	83	(22)
Thomas C. Schelling
Does the Fittest Necessarily Survive?	105	(4)
Martin Shubik
Shooting the Bird's Eye	109	(1)
Elizabeth Seeger
Cartoon: ``That's It? That's Peer Review?''	110	(4)
Sidney Harris
Part Five Reputation and Repeated Games with Symmetric Information
Introduction	113	(1)
The Evolution of Cooperation	114	(15)
Robert Axelrod
William D. Hamilton
This Tax Amnesty Will Work Only Once	129	(2)
Robert J. Barro
Alan Stockman
Fare Warning: How Airlines Trade Price Plans	131	(3)
Asra Q. Nomani
Starting Research Early	134	(8)
Harry V. Roberts
Roman L. Weil
Cartoon: Einstein Discovers that Time is Actually Money	142	(5)
Gary Larson
Part Six Dynamic Games with Incomplete Information
Introduction	145	(2)
Rational Cooperation in the Finitely Repeated Prisoners' Dilemma	147	(7)
David M. Kreps
Paul Milgrom
John Roberts
Robert Wilson
Cheap Talk, Coordination, and Entry	154	(7)
Joseph Farrell
Wise Guy: Life in a Mafia Family	161	(3)
Nicholas Pileggi
Cartoon: ``Say, I Think I See Where We Went Off...''	164	(5)
Ed Fisher
Part Seven Moral Hazard: Hidden Actions
Introduction	167	(2)
Monopoly Slack and Competitive Rigor: A Simple Model	169	(4)
Joseph Farrell
An Optimal Conviction Policy for Offenses that May Have Been Committed by Accident	173	(9)
Ariel Rubinstein
Bonded Worker is No Guarantee of a Perfect Job	182	(2)
Teri Agins
Cartoon: ``Look, Ted! We Get Paid the Same as You but All We're Doing is Standing Around and Flicking our Fingers''	184	(4)
Scott Adams
Part Eight Further Topics in Moral Hazard
Introduction	187	(1)
Wealth of Nations	188	(1)
Adam Smith
Examples of Plea Bargains	189	(1)
Eric Rasmusen
Unions Say Auto Firms Use Interplant Rivalry to Raise Work Quotas	190	(5)
Dale D. Buss
Cartoon: ``Dilbert, I Want You to Manage Wally's Project While He's on Vacation in Aruba''	195	(6)
Scott Adams
Part Nine Adverse Selection
Introduction	199	(2)
The Market for ``Lemons'': Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism	201	(13)
George A. Akerlof
The Only Game in Town	214	(4)
Walter Bagehot
Jack Treynor
Are Advertisers Ready to Pay Their Viewers?	218	(3)
Bart Ziegler
The Creation of New Mathematics: An Application of the Lakatos Heuristic	221	(5)
Philip J. Davis
Reuben Hersh
Elena Marchisotto
Cartoon: Frank's Neurosurgery	226	(4)
Gary Larson
Part Ten Mechanism Design in Adverse Selection and in Moral Hazard with Hidden Information
Introduction	229	(1)
Tie Salesmen's Bonuses to Their Forecasts	230	(11)
Jacob Gonik
Car-Buying Services Can Save Money, Especially for Those who Hate Haggling	241	(3)
Melinda Grenier Guiles
How to Build an Economic Model in Your Spare Time	244	(12)
Hal R. Varian
Cartoon: ``Of Course That's Only an Estimate...''	256	(5)
Sidney Hoff
Part Eleven Signalling
Introduction	259	(2)
High and Declining Prices Signal Product Quality	261	(14)
Kyle Bagwell
Michael H. Riordan
The Argument of an Appeal	275	(8)
John W. Davis
Cartoon: ``Yes, but the Trouble is he Always Wears that Mysterious Smile''	283	(5)
Sidney Hoff
Part Twelve Bargaining
Introduction	287	(1)
The Bargaining Problem	288	(7)
John F. Nash, Jr.
Perfect Equilibrium in a Bargaining Model	295	(14)
Ariel Rubinstein
UPS Faces More Than $1 Billion a Year in New Labor Expenses: Pact Calls for Substantial Pay Increases, Full-Time Jobs and a Union Pension Plan	309	(5)
Douglas A. Blackmon
Martha Brannigan
Glenn Burkins
Laura Jereski
Cartoon: ``Whatever Happened to Elegant Solutions?''	314	(4)
Sidney Harris
Part Thirteen Auctions
Introduction	317	(1)
The Dollar Auction Game: A Paradox in Noncooperative Behavior and Escalation	318	(4)
Martin Shubik
Analyzing the Airwaves Auction	322	(15)
R. Preston McAfee
John McMillan
At Many Auctions, Illegal Bidding Thrives as a Longtime Practice Among Dealers	337	(3)
Meg Cox
Cartoon: ``The Next Item up for Bid is the Presidency of the United States...''	340	(5)
Rob Rogers
Part Fourteen Pricing
Introduction	343	(2)
Stability in Competition	345	(13)
Harold Hotelling
The Mathematical Economics of Professor Amoroso	358	(7)
Francis Edgeworth
Existence and Computation of Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibrium for 3-Firms Location Problem	365	(4)
Avner Shaked
Busting a Trust: Electrical Contractors Reel Under Charges That They Rigged Bids	369	(4)
Andy Pasztor
Cartoon: ``Isn't it Great that We Don't Get Any More Pesky Calls during Dinner Asking us to Switch Long-Distance Companies?''	373	(5)
Rob Rogers
Part Fifteen Entry
Introduction	377	(1)
The Fat-Cat Effect, the Puppy-Dog Ploy, and the Lean and Hungry Look	378	(8)
Drew Fudenberg
Jean Tirole
Drugs: Novel Heart-Drug Deal Protects Sales, Spurs Suit	386	(3)
Ralph T. King, Jr.
Aphorisms on Writing, Speaking, and Listening	389	(32)
Eric Rasmusen
Cartoon: Henry and the Candy Shop	421	(1)
Carl Anderson
Index	422