McCain R. Game Theory. A Nontechnical Introduction...4ed 2023 torrent

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As with the previous editions, this fourth edition relies on teaching by example and the Karplus Learning Cycle to convey the ideas of game theory in a way that is approachable, intuitive, and interdisciplinary. Noncooperative equilibrium concepts such as Nash equilibrium, mixed strategy equilibria, and subgame perfect equilibrium are systematically introduced in the first half of the book. Bayesian Nash equilibrium is briefly introduced. The subsequent chapters discuss cooperative solutions with and without side payments, rationalizable strategies and correlated equilibria, and applications to elections, social mechanism design, and larger-scale games. New examples include panic buying, supply-chain shifts in the pandemic, and global warming.
What is game theory? And what does it have to do with strategy and conflict? Of course, strategy and conflict arise in many aspects of human life, including games. Conflicts may have winners and losers, and games often have winners or losers. This textbook is an introduction to a way of thinking about strategy, a way of thinking derived from the mathematical study of games. The first step, in this chapter, is to answer those questions — what is game theory and what does it have to do with strategy? But rather than answer the questions immediately, let’s begin with some examples. The first one will be an example of the human activity we most often associate with strategy and conflict: War.
As with the earlier editions, this edition is intended to teach game theory principally by examples, relying generally on the Karplus learning cycle of examples followed by general observations, reinforced by further, and sometimes more advanced examples. New material includes more extensive and updated information on Bayesian Nash Equilibria, cooperative solutions in NTU games, and social mechanism design, in the last case reflecting some more recent Nobel Memorial Prizes. New examples arise from events associated with the COVID pandemic and global warming. Some new business examples have also been added, including beer branding and the make-or-buy decision. On the other side, this book has been reorganized into sections with more basic topics and examples in the earlier chapter and a clearer progression to the more advanced topics. Chapters on some topics that seem less important in recent work in game theory, such as auctions and bargaining, have been deleted so that this book is a little more compact