Introduction to Game Theory: A Behavioral Approach - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199837414 ISBN 13: 9780199837410

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2012

Synopsis

Game theory studies the strategic interaction of people within various institutions such as political, economic, or other social institutions that are governed by a set or rules or principals. Game theory provides solutions to these strategic interactions by developing models based on assumptions about human behavior and the institution where the interaction occurs. Game theory is an interdisciplinary method to examine decision making in the fields of economics, political science, psychology, sociology, mathematics, computer programming, and biology. This book is an introduction to game theory but differs from other excellent introduction game theory texts by taking a behavioral approach. This means that basic game theory concepts are explained by using results from laboratory experiments that examine how real people behave when they participate in the games that are modeled. This approach is referred to as behavioral game theory and it seeks to use psychological reasoning to explain deviations in the predictions of standard game theory models.

About this title

About the Author

Kenneth C. Williams is a professor of political science at Michigan State University. He received his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and did a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara, The University of London, the University of Edinburg, and Trinity College in Dublin. He is co-author of Experimental Political Science and the Study of Causality, Cambridge University Press (with Rebecca B. Morton), and the winner of the 2011 book of the year award from the experimental section of the American Political Science Association. He is also co-author of Learning by Voting: Sequential Choices in Presidential Primaries and Other Elections, University of Michigan Press (with Rebecca B. Morton).

Review

"A refreshingly informal and insightful account of the key ideas of game theory."--Anna Bassi, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199837414
• ISBN 13: 9780199837410
• Binding: Paperback