Game theory: a critical text

Shaun Hargreaves-Heap, Yanis Varoufakis9780415250948, 9780415250955, 0415250943, 0415250951

Game theory now provides the theoretical underpinning for a multitude of courses in economics worldwide. The speed of these developments has been remarkable and they have constituted something of a revolution. Indeed, the basic tenets of game theory have now begun to colonize other social sciences and its proponents have been unified in claiming its natural basis as a rational theory of society. But the technical demands of the subject and the lack of clarity of many commentators’ explanations have been a problem for many. This second edition of Shaun Hargreaves-Heap and Yanis Varoufakis’s classic text strips away the mystique and lets the student make his or her own mind up. This new edition: * lays bear the philosophy behind game theory and explains all its major concepts * conducts a clear explanation and careful analysis of all the main ‘games’, such as repeated games and the prisoner’s dilemma, as well as less well-trodden topics such as experimental games and issues of rationality * introduces and analyses new areas of game theory such as “evolutionary games” and “Psychological games” Retaining the most popular features from the original edition, this latest version offers improved pedagogy, new questions for discussion, new chapters on the latest developments as well as a host of new examples. A new generation of students of game theory will grow to appreciate this superb text whilst fans of the first edition will eagerly devour this long-awaited update.

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Table of contents :
Title
……Page 1
Preface
……Page 2
Contents
……Page 4
1.
Overview……Page 8
2. The elements of
game theory……Page 44
3. Battling indeterminancy
……Page 81
4. Bargaining games
……Page 133
5.
The Prisoners’ Dilemma……Page 175
6. Evolutionary games
……Page 219
7. Phsychological games
……Page 272