A Simple Game Model of Kidnapping. Working Papers, Institute of Mathematical Economics, Universität Bielefeld/IMW Nr. 45.

SELTEN, Reinhard (1930-):

Published by June, 1976., 1976

About this Item

19 pp; ads. Original wrappers. Very Good. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1994 was awarded jointly to John C. Harsanyi, John F. Nash Jr. and Reinhard Selten 'for their pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games.' 'Hostage taking situations such as kidnapping a rich person in order to extort ransom money undoubtedly have some game theoretical aspects. In the following a very simple model will be developed which cannot claim to be more than a first attempt to gain some insight into the strategic problems faced by a kidnapper he will be called player K and by the hostage's family, called player F who has to pay the ransom money' (p. 1). This paper is reprinted in Selten (ed.), Models of Strategic Rationality (Boston: Kluwer, 1988). 'In 1969, I accepted an offer of the Free University of Berlin, where I was a full professor of economics until 1972. My wife and I liked to live in West Berlin. In these years Germany experienced a period of student unrest, which made teaching difficult and sometimes impossible. The student movement was especially strong at the Free University, but this was not the reason why I moved to the University of Bielefeld in 1972. I was attracted by plans to create a big Institute of Mathematical Economics. However, these plans could not be realized since it finally turned out that the money was not available. Eventually a small institute with only three professors was established. I was not unhappy with this solution since I succeeded to convince the appointment committee that all positions should be held by game theorists. The positions were filled by Joachim Rosenmuller, Wulf Albers, and myself. The concentration on game theory gave us a chance to get some international reputation. My years at the University of Bielefeld were a productive time. My experimental research continued but I mainly worked on game theory and its application to industrial organization and other areas' (Selten's Autobiography; nobelprize[dot]org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1994/selten[dot]html).

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Simple Game Model of Kidnapping. Working Papers, Institute of Mathematical Economics, Universität Bielefeld/IMW Nr. 45.
• Publisher: June, 1976.
• Publication Date: 1976
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket