IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/mateco/v50y2014icp197-202.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the existence of pure-strategy equilibria in games with private information: A complete characterization

Author

Listed:
  • Khan, M. Ali
  • Zhang, Yongchao

Abstract

This paper reports a definitive resolution to the question of the existence of a pure-strategy Bayesian–Nash equilibrium in games with a finite number of players, each with a compact metric action set and private information. The resolution hinges on saturated spaces. If the individual spaces of information are saturated, there exists a pure-strategy equilibrium in such a game; and if there exists a pure-strategy equilibrium for the class of games under consideration and with uncountable action sets, the spaces of private information must be saturated. As such, the paper offers a complete characterization of a longstanding question, and offers another game-theoretic characterization of the saturation property, one that complements a recent result of Keisler–Sun (2009) on large non-anonymous games with complete information.

Suggested Citation

  • Khan, M. Ali & Zhang, Yongchao, 2014. "On the existence of pure-strategy equilibria in games with private information: A complete characterization," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 197-202.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:mateco:v:50:y:2014:i:c:p:197-202
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmateco.2013.12.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304406813001225
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jmateco.2013.12.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Khan, M. Ali & Yeneng, Sun, 1995. "Pure strategies in games with private information," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(7), pages 633-653.
    2. Aumann, Robert J., 1974. "Subjectivity and correlation in randomized strategies," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 67-96, March.
    3. Khan, M. Ali & Sun, Yeneng, 1999. "Non-cooperative games on hyperfinite Loeb spaces1," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 455-492, May.
    4. Paul R. Milgrom & Robert J. Weber, 1985. "Distributional Strategies for Games with Incomplete Information," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 10(4), pages 619-632, November.
    5. Khan, M. Ali & Sun, Yeneng, 2002. "Non-cooperative games with many players," Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications, in: R.J. Aumann & S. Hart (ed.), Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 46, pages 1761-1808, Elsevier.
    6. Drew Fudenberg & Jean Tirole, 1991. "Game Theory," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262061414, December.
    7. M Ali Khan & Yeneng Sun, 1996. "Non-Atomic Games on Loeb Spaces," Economics Working Paper Archive 374, The Johns Hopkins University,Department of Economics, revised Aug 1996.
    8. Jianwei Wang & Yongchao Zhang, 2012. "Purification, saturation and the exact law of large numbers," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 50(3), pages 527-545, August.
    9. Khan, M. Ali & Rath, Kali P. & Sun, Yeneng, 1999. "On a private information game without pure strategy equilibria1," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 341-359, April.
    10. M. Khan & Kali Rath & Yeneng Sun, 2006. "The Dvoretzky-Wald-Wolfowitz theorem and purification in atomless finite-action games," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 34(1), pages 91-104, April.
    11. Khan, M. Ali & Rath, Kali P., 2009. "On games with incomplete information and the Dvoretsky-Wald-Wolfowitz theorem with countable partitions," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(12), pages 830-837, December.
    12. Fu, Haifeng & Sun, Yeneng & Yannelis, Nicholas C. & Zhang, Zhixiang, 2007. "Pure strategy equilibria in games with private and public information," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 523-531, June.
    13. Konrad Podczeck, 2009. "On purification of measure-valued maps," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 38(2), pages 399-418, February.
    14. Haifeng Fu, 2008. "Mixed-strategy equilibria and strong purification for games with private and public information," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 37(3), pages 521-532, December.
    15. Roy Radner & Robert W. Rosenthal, 1982. "Private Information and Pure-Strategy Equilibria," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(3), pages 401-409, August.
    16. Erik J. Balder, 1988. "Generalized Equilibrium Results for Games with Incomplete Information," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 13(2), pages 265-276, May.
    17. R. J. Aumann & Y. Katznelson & R. Radner & R. W. Rosenthal & B. Weiss, 1983. "Approximate Purification of Mixed Strategies," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 8(3), pages 327-341, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Beißner, Patrick & Khan, M. Ali, 2019. "On Hurwicz–Nash equilibria of non-Bayesian games under incomplete information," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 470-490.
    2. Yuhki Hosoya & Chaowen Yu, 2021. "On the Approximate Purification of Mixed Strategies in Games with Infinite Action Sets," Papers 2103.07736, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2022.
    3. Chaowen Yu & Yuhki Hosoya & Toru Maruyama, 2018. "On the purification of mixed strategies," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(3), pages 1655-1675.
    4. Einy, Ezra & Haimanko, Ori, 2020. "Equilibrium existence in games with a concave Bayesian potential," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 288-294.
    5. Fu, Haifeng & Yu, Haomiao, 2015. "Pareto-undominated and socially-maximal equilibria in non-atomic games," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 7-15.
    6. M. Ali Khan & Yongchao Zhang, 2017. "Existence of pure-strategy equilibria in Bayesian games: a sharpened necessity result," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 46(1), pages 167-183, March.
    7. Fu, Haifeng & Yu, Haomiao, 2018. "Pareto refinements of pure-strategy equilibria in games with public and private information," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 18-26.
    8. Wei He & Xiang Sun & Yeneng Sun & Yishu Zeng, 2021. "Characterization of equilibrium existence and purification in general Bayesian games," Papers 2106.08563, arXiv.org.
    9. Yuhki Hosoya & Chaowen Yu, 2022. "On the approximate purification of mixed strategies in games with infinite action sets," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 10(1), pages 69-93, May.
    10. Khan, M. Ali & Zhang, Yongchao, 2018. "On pure-strategy equilibria in games with correlated information," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 289-304.

    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. He, Wei & Sun, Xiang, 2014. "On the diffuseness of incomplete information game," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 131-137.
    2. Grant, Simon & Meneghel, Idione & Tourky, Rabee, 2016. "Savage games," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 11(2), May.
    3. Grant, Simon & Meneghel, Idione & Tourky, Rabee, 2013. "Savage Games: A Theory of Strategic Interaction with Purely Subjective Uncertainty," Risk and Sustainable Management Group Working Papers 151501, University of Queensland, School of Economics.
    4. Beißner, Patrick & Khan, M. Ali, 2019. "On Hurwicz–Nash equilibria of non-Bayesian games under incomplete information," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 470-490.
    5. Michael Greinecker & Konrad Podczeck, 2015. "Purification and roulette wheels," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 58(2), pages 255-272, February.
    6. Khan, M. Ali & Rath, Kali P. & Sun, Yeneng & Yu, Haomiao, 2013. "Large games with a bio-social typology," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 148(3), pages 1122-1149.
    7. Haifeng Fu, 2008. "Mixed-strategy equilibria and strong purification for games with private and public information," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 37(3), pages 521-532, December.
    8. Khan, M. Ali & Rath, Kali P., 2009. "On games with incomplete information and the Dvoretsky-Wald-Wolfowitz theorem with countable partitions," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(12), pages 830-837, December.
    9. M. Ali Khan & Yongchao Zhang, 2017. "Existence of pure-strategy equilibria in Bayesian games: a sharpened necessity result," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 46(1), pages 167-183, March.
    10. Barelli, Paulo & Duggan, John, 2015. "Purification of Bayes Nash equilibrium with correlated types and interdependent payoffs," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1-14.
    11. Fu, Haifeng & Yu, Haomiao, 2015. "Pareto-undominated and socially-maximal equilibria in non-atomic games," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 7-15.
    12. Ennio Bilancini & Leonardo Boncinelli, 2016. "Strict Nash equilibria in non-atomic games with strict single crossing in players (or types) and actions," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 4(1), pages 95-109, April.
    13. Stinchcombe, Maxwell B., 2011. "Correlated equilibrium existence for infinite games with type-dependent strategies," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 638-655, March.
    14. Fu, Haifeng & Yu, Haomiao, 2018. "Pareto refinements of pure-strategy equilibria in games with public and private information," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 18-26.
    15. Wei He & Xiang Sun & Yeneng Sun & Yishu Zeng, 2021. "Characterization of equilibrium existence and purification in general Bayesian games," Papers 2106.08563, arXiv.org.
    16. , & , P. & , & ,, 2015. "Strategic uncertainty and the ex-post Nash property in large games," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 10(1), January.
    17. He, Wei & Sun, Yeneng, 2019. "Pure-strategy equilibria in Bayesian games," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 11-49.
    18. Zeng, Yishu, 2023. "Derandomization of persuasion mechanisms," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    19. Yuhki Hosoya & Chaowen Yu, 2022. "On the approximate purification of mixed strategies in games with infinite action sets," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 10(1), pages 69-93, May.
    20. Yu, Haomiao & Zhang, Zhixiang, 2007. "Pure strategy equilibria in games with countable actions," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 192-200, February.

    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:eee:mateco:v:50:y:2014:i:c:p:197-202. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jmateco .

    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.