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With Potential Games, Which Outcome Is Better?

Author

Listed:
  • Santiago Guisasola

    (Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 22460-320, Brazil)

  • Donald Saari

    (Department of Mathematics, University of California, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
    Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
    Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA 92617, USA)

Abstract

Lower one- or two-dimensional coordination, or potential games, are popularly used to model interactive behavior, such as innovation diffusion and cultural evolution. Typically, this involves determining the “better” of competing solutions. However, examples have demonstrated that different measures of a “good” choice can lead to conflicting conclusions; a fact that reflects the history of game theory in equilibrium selection. This behavior is totally explained while extending the analysis to the full seven-dimensional class of potential games, which includes coordination games.

Suggested Citation

  • Santiago Guisasola & Donald Saari, 2020. "With Potential Games, Which Outcome Is Better?," Games, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jgames:v:11:y:2020:i:3:p:33-:d:400067
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    6. Hwang, Sung-Ha & Rey-Bellet, Luc, 2020. "Strategic decompositions of normal form games: Zero-sum games and potential games," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 370-390.
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    8. Ozan Candogan & Ishai Menache & Asuman Ozdaglar & Pablo A. Parrilo, 2011. "Flows and Decompositions of Games: Harmonic and Potential Games," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 36(3), pages 474-503, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Russell Golman, 2020. "New Directions in Behavioral Game Theory: Introduction to the Special Issue," Games, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-3, November.
    2. Zimmaro, Filippo & Galam, Serge & Javarone, Marco Alberto, 2024. "Asymmetric games on networks: Mapping to Ising models and bounded rationality," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).

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