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symposium articles: A differentiable homotopy to compute Nash equilibria of n -person games

Author

Listed:
  • P. Jean-Jacques Herings

    (Department of Economics, Universiteit Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, THE NETHERLANDS)

  • Ronald J.A.P. Peeters

    (Department of Economics, Universiteit Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, THE NETHERLANDS)

Abstract

The literature on the computation of Nash equilibria in n-person games is dominated by simplicial methods. This paper is the first to introduce a globally convergent algorithm that fully exploits the differentiability present in the problem. It presents an everywhere differentiable homotopy to do the computations. The homotopy path can therefore be followed by several numerical techniques. Moreover, instead of computing some Nash equilibrium, the algorithm is constructed in such a way that it computes the Nash equilibrium selected by the tracing procedure of Harsanyi and Selten. As a by-product of our proofs it follows that for a generic game the tracing procedure defines a unique feasible path. The numerical performance of the algorithm is illustrated by means of several examples.

Suggested Citation

  • P. Jean-Jacques Herings & Ronald J.A.P. Peeters, 2001. "symposium articles: A differentiable homotopy to compute Nash equilibria of n -person games," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 18(1), pages 159-185.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:18:y:2001:i:1:p:159-185
    Note: Received: December 21, 1999; revised version: December 27, 2000
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Bich, Philippe & Fixary, Julien, 2022. "Network formation and pairwise stability: A new oddness theorem," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Dang, Chuangyin & Meng, Xiaoxuan & Talman, Dolf, 2015. "An Interior-Point Path-Following Method for Computing a Perfect Stationary Point of a Polynomial Mapping on a Polytope," Other publications TiSEM 07b7a0e7-f814-4ec2-a3a7-e, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Li, Peixuan & Dang, Chuangyin & Herings, P.J.J., 2023. "Computing Perfect Stationary Equilibria in Stochastic Games," Discussion Paper 2023-006, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    4. Yang Zhan & Peixuan Li & Chuangyin Dang, 2020. "A differentiable path-following algorithm for computing perfect stationary points," Computational Optimization and Applications, Springer, vol. 76(2), pages 571-588, June.
    5. Jean-Jacques Herings, P., 2002. "Universally converging adjustment processes--a unifying approach," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 341-370, November.
    6. Herings, P.J.J., 2024. "Globally and Universally Convergent Price Adjustment Processes," Discussion Paper 2024-001, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    7. P. Herings & Ronald Peeters, 2005. "A Globally Convergent Algorithm to Compute All Nash Equilibria for n-Person Games," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 349-368, July.
    8. Cao, Yiyin & Dang, Chuangyin & Xiao, Zhongdong, 2022. "A differentiable path-following method to compute subgame perfect equilibria in stationary strategies in robust stochastic games and its applications," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 298(3), pages 1032-1050.
    9. Chuangyin Dang & P. Jean-Jacques Herings & Peixuan Li, 2022. "An Interior-Point Differentiable Path-Following Method to Compute Stationary Equilibria in Stochastic Games," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 34(3), pages 1403-1418, May.
    10. Herings, P. Jean-Jacques & Zhan, Yang, 2021. "The computation of pairwise stable networks," Research Memorandum 004, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    11. Dang, Chuangyin & Herings, P. Jean-Jacques & Li, Peixuan, 2020. "An Interior-Point Path-Following Method to Compute Stationary Equilibria in Stochastic Games," Research Memorandum 001, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    12. Cao, Yiyin & Dang, Chuangyin, 2022. "A variant of Harsanyi's tracing procedures to select a perfect equilibrium in normal form games," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 127-150.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Computation of equilibria - Noncooperative game theory - Tracing procedure.;

    JEL classification:

    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games

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