Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-cjp7w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-22T02:45:44.486Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Afterword - The Game Theory of Conflict

The Prisoners’ Dilemma – An Unsympathetic Critique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2018

David Blagden
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
Mark de Rond
Affiliation:
Judge Business School, Cambridge
Get access

Summary

The most popular, most famous, most mentioned exemplar in game theory, especially in the social sciences, is the ‘Prisoners’ Dilemma’ – which is actually a predicament, rather than a dilemma. Two men – all we know is their gender – charged with a joint violation of the law, are held separately by the police. Each is told that, if one confesses and the other does not, the former will be given a reward of one unit and the latter will be fined two units; if both confess, each will be fined one unit; if neither confesses, both will go free. Each of the two suffers less by confessing, but if they could reach a binding agreement they would clearly agree not to confess. As originally presented in an unpublished note by Albert Tucker and, usually, followed faithfully by game-theoretic analysts, all we know – as noted – is their gender. It usually follows, at least by implication, that both confess, contrary to their joint interest. I argue here, however, that we cannot conclude that the two are likely to confess. My argument will be simply that we do not know what they know and cannot predict what they will decide.

Type
Chapter
Information
Games
Conflict, Competition, and Cooperation
, pp. 145 - 150
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×