IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/97401.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Maximin equilibrium

Author

Listed:
  • Ismail, Mehmet

Abstract

We introduce a new solution concept called maximin equilibrium which extends von Neumann's maximin strategy idea to n-player non-cooperative games by incorporating common knowledge of 'rationality' of the players. Our rationality assumption is, however, stronger than the one of maximin strategy and weaker than the one of Nash equilibrium. Maximin equilibrium, just like maximin strategies, is a method for evaluating the uncertainty that players are facing by playing the game. We show that maximin equilibrium is invariant under strictly increasing transformations of the payoff functions. Notably, every finite game possesses a maximin equilibrium in pure strategies. Considering the games in von Neumann and Morgenstern mixed extension, we show that maximin equilibrium is a generalization of Nash equilibrium. In addition, we demonstrate that maximin equilibria and Nash equilibria coincide in two-player zero-sum games. We propose a refinement of maximin equilibrium called strong maximin equilibrium. Accordingly, we show that for every Nash equilibrium that is not a strong maximin equilibrium there exists a strong maximin equilibrium that Pareto dominates it. In addition, no strong maximin equilibrium is ever Pareto dominated by a Nash equilibrium. Finally, we discuss maximin equilibrium predictions in several games including the traveler's dilemma. (Submitted to MPRA for stable archival purposes. This is the first Maastricht University version.)

Suggested Citation

  • Ismail, Mehmet, 2014. "Maximin equilibrium," MPRA Paper 97401, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:97401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/97401/1/MPRA_paper_97401.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John C. Harsanyi & Reinhard Selten, 1988. "A General Theory of Equilibrium Selection in Games," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262582384, April.
    2. Aumann, Robert J., 1974. "Subjectivity and correlation in randomized strategies," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 67-96, March.
    3. Ariel Rubinstein, 2006. "Dilemmas of an Economic Theorist," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(4), pages 865-883, July.
    4. Bernheim, B Douglas, 1984. "Rationalizable Strategic Behavior," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(4), pages 1007-1028, July.
    5. Jacob K. Goeree & Charles A. Holt, 2001. "Ten Little Treasures of Game Theory and Ten Intuitive Contradictions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1402-1422, December.
    6. C. Monica Capra, 1999. "Anomalous Behavior in a Traveler's Dilemma?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 678-690, June.
    7. Ariel Rubinstein, 2007. "Instinctive and Cognitive Reasoning: A Study of Response Times," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(523), pages 1243-1259, October.
    8. Gilboa, Itzhak & Schmeidler, David, 1989. "Maxmin expected utility with non-unique prior," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 141-153, April.
    9. Basu, Kaushik, 1994. "The Traveler's Dilemma: Paradoxes of Rationality in Game Theory," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 391-395, May.
    10. R. J. Aumann & M. Maschler, 1972. "Some Thoughts on the Minimax Principle," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(5-Part-2), pages 54-63, January.
    11. Pearce, David G, 1984. "Rationalizable Strategic Behavior and the Problem of Perfection," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(4), pages 1029-1050, July.
    12. Rosenthal, Robert W., 1981. "Games of perfect information, predatory pricing and the chain-store paradox," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 92-100, August.
    13. Ariel Rubinstein, 2007. "Instinctive and Cognitive Reasoning: Response Times Study," Levine's Bibliography 321307000000001011, UCLA Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mehmet S. Ismail, 2019. "Super-Nash performance in games," Papers 1912.00211, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2023.
    2. Ismail, M.S., 2014. "Maximin equilibrium," Research Memorandum 037, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    3. Ismail, Mehmet, 2014. "Maximin equilibrium," MPRA Paper 97322, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Velu, C. & Iyer, S., 2008. "The Rationality of Irrationality for Managers: Returns- Based Beliefs and the Traveller’s Dilemma," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0826, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    5. Kaushik Basu & Leonardo Becchetti & Luca Stanca, 2011. "Experiments with the Traveler’s Dilemma: welfare, strategic choice and implicit collusion," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 37(4), pages 575-595, October.
    6. Lensberg, Terje & Schenk-Hoppé, Klaus Reiner, 2021. "Cold play: Learning across bimatrix games," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 419-441.
    7. Tilman Becker & Michael Carter & Jörg Naeve, 2005. "Experts Playing the Traveler's Dilemma," Diskussionspapiere aus dem Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Hohenheim 252/2005, Department of Economics, University of Hohenheim, Germany.
    8. Terje Lensberg & Klaus Reiner Schenk-Hoppe, 2019. "Evolutionary Stable Solution Concepts for the Initial Play," Economics Discussion Paper Series 1916, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    9. Ispano, Alessandro & Schwardmann, Peter, 2017. "Cooperating over losses and competing over gains: A social dilemma experiment," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 329-348.
    10. Jacob K. Goeree & Charles A. Holt, 2001. "Ten Little Treasures of Game Theory and Ten Intuitive Contradictions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1402-1422, December.
    11. van Damme, E.E.C., 2000. "Non-cooperative Games," Other publications TiSEM 51465233-a356-4d20-acc4-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    12. C. Monica Capra & Susana Cabrera & Rosario Gómez, 2003. "The Effects of Common Advice on One-shot Traveler’s Dilemma Games: Explaining Behavior through an Introspective Model with Errors," Economic Working Papers at Centro de Estudios Andaluces E2003/17, Centro de Estudios Andaluces.
    13. van Damme, E.E.C., 2015. "Game theory : Noncooperative games," Other publications TiSEM ff518f2b-501f-4d99-817b-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. Mehmet S. Ismail, 2022. "Optimin achieves super-Nash performance," Papers 2210.00625, arXiv.org.
    15. Velu, C. & Iyer, S., 2008. "Returns-Based Beliefs and The Prisoner’s Dilemma," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0854, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    16. Halpern, Joseph Y. & Pass, Rafael, 2012. "Iterated regret minimization: A new solution concept," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 184-207.
    17. Ispano, Alessandro, 2015. "A note on the equilibria of the unbounded traveler’s dilemma," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 52-54.
    18. Vitaly Pruzhansky, 2004. "A Discussion of Maximin," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 04-028/1, Tinbergen Institute.
    19. Brañas-Garza, Pablo & Espinosa, María Paz & Rey-Biel, Pedro, 2011. "Travelers' types," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 78(1-2), pages 25-36, April.
    20. García-Pola, Bernardo, 2020. "Do people minimize regret in strategic situations? A level-k comparison," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 82-104.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Non-cooperative games; maximin strategy; zerosum games;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:97401. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.