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Rationality and the definition of consistent pairs

Author

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  • Christian Ewerhart

    (University of Bonn, Wirtschaftspolitische Abteilung, Adenauerallee 24-42, D-53113 Bonn, Germany)

Abstract

A consistent pair specifies a set of "rational" strategies for both players such that a strategy is rational if and only if it is a best reply to a Bayesian belief that gives positive probability to every rational strategy of the opponent and probability zero otherwise. Although the idea underlying consistent pairs is quite intuitive, the original definition suffers from non-existence problems. In this article, we propose an alternative formalization of consistent pairs. According to our definition, a strategy is "rational" if and only if it is a best reply to some lexicographic probability system that satisfies certain consistency conditions. These conditions imply in particular that a player's probability system gives infinitely more weight to rational strategies than to other strategies. We show that modified consistent pairs exist for every game.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Ewerhart, 1998. "Rationality and the definition of consistent pairs," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 27(1), pages 49-59.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jogath:v:27:y:1998:i:1:p:49-59
    Note: Received November 1997/First version May 1997
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    Cited by:

    1. Chris Fields & James F. Glazebrook, 2024. "Nash Equilibria and Undecidability in Generic Physical Interactions—A Free Energy Perspective," Games, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-22, August.
    2. Asheim, Geir B. & Dufwenberg, Martin, 2003. "Admissibility and common belief," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 208-234, February.
    3. Xiao Luo, 2009. "On the foundation of stability," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 40(2), pages 185-201, August.
    4. Adam Brandenburger & Amanda Friedenberg, 2014. "Self-Admissible Sets," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Language of Game Theory Putting Epistemics into the Mathematics of Games, chapter 8, pages 213-249, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Ewerhart, Christian, 2000. "Chess-like Games Are Dominance Solvable in at Most Two Steps," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 41-47, October.

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