A Primer in Game Theory

by Robert Gibbons

Game theory has revolutionized economics research and teaching during the past two decades. There are few undergraduate or graduate courses in which it does not form a core component. Game theory is the study of multi-decision problems and such problems occur frequently in economics. Industrial organization provides many examples where firms must consider the reactions of others. But there are many other areas in which it is applicable - from individual workers vying for promotion to countries competing or colluding to choose trade policies. Bob Gibbons provides an introduction to the branches of game theory that have been widely applied in economics. He emphasizes the applications as much as the pure theory. This not only helps to teach the theory, but also illustrates the process of model building - the process of translating an informal description of a multi-person decision situation into a formal, game theoretic problem to be analyzed. The approach aims to serve as both an introduction to those who will go on to specialize as pure game-theorists. It also introduces game theory to those who will later construct (or at least use) game-theoretic models in applied fields of economics.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Business, Mathematics, Textbooks, Reference, Psychology

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Robert S. Gibbons is an American economist and Sloan Distinguished Professor of Management at MIT. He specializes in organizational economics and founded the NBER Working Group on Organizational Economics, which he directed from 2002 to 2022.

Reviews

[Dio Mavroyannis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the most technical book but that is a good thing. It gets most of the concept out very clearly, you can follow along all the way through, I would even say that if you can get to the end and understand every definition of it, you are probably better equipped in game theory than most economists. Unfortunately because the simplicity in approach, going from this textbook to notation heavy one will not be easy but that does not make this one any less enjoyable. Probably the most fun game theory book out there.

[Yan Leng · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book definitely worth second-reading. This is a book used as reference for many MIT graduate level applied game theory classes (at least three departments are using is that I knew of). I like the way the book is organized and the illustrative

Easier than Fudenberg's intro to game theory. I would recommend this as an intro book for people new to game theory.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good textbook. Concise when it needs to be, wordy when it needs to be, and uses very good metaphors and examples. Very well organized.

[ریچارد · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتابه دیگه ای نخوندم تو این حوزه، اما اگر وولدریج رو استاندارد قضیه بدونیم، سه ستاره

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, concise introduction to applied game theory. The examples draw from a variety of applications within economics, but primarily focus on industrial organization. Concepts are introduced in an intuitive manner before being formally defined and overtly technical aspects are avoided. Highly recommended to advanced undergraduate students or higher who need to know how to apply non-cooperative game theory without needing to know how every theorem is derived.

[Daniel Villegas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic in Theory of Games as part of the baggage any economist must have in his understanding about how the markets solve problems when there're market power to exert to improve profits. Duopoly an Oligopoly are solved as games. The complete isuue must cover Bayessian solutions and multi-step games.

Gibbons is one of the most complete texts currently used at Universities.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on game theory. Clear examples and text.

[Cortney R · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice resource for anyone interested in game theory. It goes through nice intuitive explanations of theory and application with a less rigor than other books on the subject.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, concise, nice reference without a lot of filler. Not necessarily a good place for beginners.

[Tista Kundu]

yet to solve

[Safeya Zeitoun · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concepts are explained nicely in laymen's terms. As someone who was never exposed to game theory before in the past, I found this text very helpful.

[Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

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