Games of Strategy 1e cloth

All introductory textbooks begin by attempting to convince the student readers that the subject is of great importance in the world, and therefore merits their attention. The physical sciences and engineering claim to be the basis of modern technology and therefore of modern life; the social sciences discuss big issues of governance, for example, democracy and taxation; the humanities claim that they revive your soul after it has been deadened by exposure to the physical and social sciences and to engineering. Where does the subject "games of strategy," often also called game theory, fit into this picture, and why should you study it? Dixit and Skeath's Games of Strategy offers a practical motivation much more individual and closer to your personal concerns than most other subjects. You play games of strategy all the time: with your parents, siblings, friends, enemies, even with your professors. You have probably acquired a lot of instinctive expertise, and we hope you will recognize in what follows some of the lessons you have already learned. This book's authors will build on this experience, systematize it, and develop it to the point where you will be able to improve your strategic skills and use them more methodically. Opportunities for such uses will appear throughout the rest of your life; you will go on playing such games with your employers, employees, spouses, children, and even strangers. Not that the subject lacks wider importance. Similar games are played in business, politics, diplomacy, wars--in fact, whenever people interact to strike mutually agreeable deals or to resolve conflicts. Being able to recognize such games will enrich your understanding of the world around you, and will make you a better participant in all its affairs.

All introductory textbooks begin by attempting to convince the student readers that the subject is of great importance in the world, and therefore merits their attention. The physical sciences and engineering claim to be the basis of modern technology and therefore of modern life; the social sciences discuss big issues of governance, for example, democracy and taxation; the humanities claim that they revive your soul after it has been deadened by exposure to the physical and social sciences and to engineering. Where does the subject "games of strategy," often also called game theory, fit into this picture, and why should you study it? Dixit and Skeath's Games of Strategy offers a practical motivation much more individual and closer to your personal concerns than most other subjects. You play games of strategy all the time: with your parents, siblings, friends, enemies, even with your professors. You have probably acquired a lot of instinctive expertise, and we hope you will recognize in what follows some of the lessons you have already learned. This book's authors will build on this experience, systematize it, and develop it to the point where you will be able to improve your strategic skills and use them more methodically. Opportunities for such uses will appear throughout the rest of your life; you will go on playing such games with your employers, employees, spouses, children, and even strangers. Not that the subject lacks wider importance. Similar games are played in business, politics, diplomacy, wars--in fact, whenever people interact to strike mutually agreeable deals or to resolve conflicts. Being able to recognize such games will enrich your understanding of the world around you, and will make you a better participant in all its affairs.

Avinash Dixit is the John J.F. Sherrerd University Professor of Economics at Princeton University. An internationally recognized economist, he has made important contributions in several major field, including game theory. He is the author of several books, including Thinking Strategically and Investment Under Uncertainty. Susan Skeath is Professor and Chair of Economics at Wellesley College, where she introduced game theory courses into the school's curriculum. She conducts research in international trade theory. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Preface
PART ONE Introduction and general principles
1 Basic ideas and examples
2 How to tink about strategic games
PART TWO Concepts and techniques
3 Games with sequential moves
4 Games with simultaneous moves
5 Simulianeous-move games with mixed strategies
6 Combining simultanous and sequential moves
7 Consolidation ,extension,and discussion
PART THREE Some broad glasses of games and strategies
8 The prisoner`s dilemma game
9 Games with stratgic moves
10 Evolutionary games
11 Collective-action games
12 Uncertainty and information
PART FOUR Applications to specific strategic situations
13 Brinkmanship:The cuban missle crisis
14 Strategy and voting
15 Bidding strategy and auction design
16 Bargaining
17 Markets and competition