Course notes on finite games and rational choice

Course notes on finite games and rational choice
Author: Riccardo Bruni
Publisher: Firenze University Press
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2019-02-11
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 8864538321

This book collects notes that were prepared for a university course taught in the Spring of 2018, and delivered to an audience of students enrolled in the Master course in Logic, philosophy and history of science of the University of Florence. The goal of the course was to introduce students to some basic concepts from the area of research generally known as decision theory. This is done by focussing on the concept of ‘rational choice’, which is analyzed, methodologically speaking, by the means of the theory of games. To minimize prerequisites it was decided to restrict the attention to the theory of finite games in particular. The topics treated are vary, and belongs to both the theory of games ‘in normal form’ as well as that of games ‘in extensive form’, as they are usually referred to. The classical issues in both fields, such as the theory of ‘equilibria’ and the study of properties such as determinacy, are carefully discussed to make them clear to beginners and are addressed from a novel perspective which makes use of formal methods that are typical of researches connected with the study of logic.

Rational Choice and Strategic Conflict

Rational Choice and Strategic Conflict
Author: Gabriel Frahm
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2019-09-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3110596105

"This book is refreshing, innovative and important for several reasons. Perhaps most importantly, it attempts to reconcile game theory with one-person decision theory by viewing a game as a collection of one-person decision problems. As natural as this approach may seem, it is hard to find game theory books that really implement this view. This book is a wonderful exception, in which the transition between decision theory and game theory is both smooth and natural. It shows that decision theory and game theory can go—and, in fact, must go—hand in hand. The careful exposition, the many illustrative examples, the critical assessment of traditional game theory concepts, and the enlightening comparison with the subjectivistic approach advocated in this book, make it a pleasure to read and a must have for anyone interested in the foundations of decision theory and game theory." Andrés Perea (Maastricht University) "Gabriel Frahm's relatively nontechnical book is a bold synthesis of decision theory and game theory from a Bayesian or subjectivist perspective. It distinguishes between decisions, or one-person games, and games with two or more players, but Frahm argues that this distinction is not always necessary—the two kinds of games can be analyzed within a common theoretical framework. He models the dynamics of choice in several different settings (e.g., information may be complete or incomplete as well as perfect or imperfect), including one in which players look ahead and make farsighted calculations on which they base their choices. His book contains many provocative examples that illustrate the advantages of a unified theory of rational decision-making." Steven J. Brams (New York University)

Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory

Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory
Author: Donald Green
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 255
Release: 1994-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0300066368

A critical evaluation of the use of rational choice theory in political science. In this text, the authors assess this theory where it is believed to be most useful: the study of collective action, the behaviour of political parties, and phenomena such as voting cycles and prisoners' dilemmas.

MBA Notes

MBA Notes
Author: Jeff Blum
Publisher: Jeff Blum
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2021-10-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

MBA Notes is a combination of lecture notes, strategic frameworks, and useful business and management concepts drawn from online sources. It is primarily intended for: Current managers who don't have the time or inclination to enroll in an MBA program. MBA alumni that want to refresh the concepts learned during their study. Prospective MBA students that want to get an advanced look at what they will be studying. You will find useful material covering the subjects taught in business schools, including: Accounting Business Law Case Analysis Tips and Tools Economics Finance Leadership Marketing Operations Organizational Behavior Statistics Strategy (including various useful frameworks) This book does not read this like a regular business book or textbook and does not provide detailed explanations and illustrations of the concepts. Rather, it offers condensed lists, summaries, formulae, and other highlights of core concepts.

Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict

Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict
Author:
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 1700
Release: 1999-08-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0080544142

The Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict, a three-volume set written by more than 200 eminent contributors from around the world, takes advantage of increasing, worldwide awareness in the public, private, commercial, and academic sectors about manifestations of violence in all segments of society. While the contributors do not use these volumes to make specific arguments, they do describe and clarify the developments in thought that have led to current theories about and positions on violence and peace. Our reviewers consistently note that while many in-depth studies of war, peace, and aggression exist, the attendant specialization keeps scholars from learning about related fields. No publication competing with the Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict can satisfy their need for a vast introductory work to such a diverse and socially-important field. This major work includes more than 190 multidisciplinary articles with over 1,000 cross-references and more than 2,000 bibliography entries for further reading which are arranged alphabetically for easy access. More than 190 multidisciplinary articles with over 1,000 cross-references Article outline and glossary of key terms begin each article Entries arranged alphabetically for easy access Three-volume set with subject index of over 750 entries Articles written by more than 200 eminent contributors from around the world

Causality, Correlation And Artificial Intelligence For Rational Decision Making

Causality, Correlation And Artificial Intelligence For Rational Decision Making
Author: Tshilidzi Marwala
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2015-01-02
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9814630888

Causality has been a subject of study for a long time. Often causality is confused with correlation. Human intuition has evolved such that it has learned to identify causality through correlation. In this book, four main themes are considered and these are causality, correlation, artificial intelligence and decision making. A correlation machine is defined and built using multi-layer perceptron network, principal component analysis, Gaussian Mixture models, genetic algorithms, expectation maximization technique, simulated annealing and particle swarm optimization. Furthermore, a causal machine is defined and built using multi-layer perceptron, radial basis function, Bayesian statistics and Hybrid Monte Carlo methods. Both these machines are used to build a Granger non-linear causality model. In addition, the Neyman-Rubin, Pearl and Granger causal models are studied and are unified. The automatic relevance determination is also applied to extend Granger causality framework to the non-linear domain. The concept of rational decision making is studied, and the theory of flexibly-bounded rationality is used to extend the theory of bounded rationality within the principle of the indivisibility of rationality. The theory of the marginalization of irrationality for decision making is also introduced to deal with satisficing within irrational conditions. The methods proposed are applied in biomedical engineering, condition monitoring and for modelling interstate conflict.

Methods in Analytical Political Theory

Methods in Analytical Political Theory
Author: Adrian Blau
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2017-05-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1107098793

A guide to methods in analytical political theory, offering concrete advice and clear examples of good and bad practice.

Bounded Rational Behavior in Experimental Games and Markets

Bounded Rational Behavior in Experimental Games and Markets
Author: Reinhard Tietz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3642483569

The book reports on recent experimental research on expectations and decision making in bargaining, markets, auctions, or coalition formation situations. The investi- gated topics deliver building stones for a bounded rational theory as an approach to explain behavior and interpersonal interactions in economic and social relationships.

Notes On The Theory Of Choice

Notes On The Theory Of Choice
Author: David Kreps
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2018-05-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0429967160

In this book, Professor Kreps presents a first course on the basic models of choice theory that underlie much of economic theory. This course, taught for several years at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, gives the student an introduction to the axiomatic method of economic analysis, without placing too heavy a demand on mathematical sophistication.The course begins with the basics of choice and revealed preference theory and then discusses numerical representations of ordinal preference. Models with uncertainty come next: First is von Neumann?Morgenstern utility, and then choice under uncertainty with subjective uncertainty, using the formulation of Anscombe and Aumann, and then sketching the development of Savage's classic theory. Finally, the course delves into a number of special topics, including de Finetti's theorem, modeling choice on a part of a larger problem, dynamic choice, and the empirical evidence against the classic models.