IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jogath/v46y2017i1d10.1007_s00182-016-0528-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Existence of pure-strategy equilibria in Bayesian games: a sharpened necessity result

Author

Listed:
  • M. Ali Khan

    (The Johns Hopkins University)

  • Yongchao Zhang

    (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
    Ministry of Education)

Abstract

In earlier work, the authors showed that a pure-strategy Bayesian-Nash equilibria in games with uncountable action sets and atomless private information spaces may not exist if the information space of each player is not saturated. This paper sharpens this result by exhibiting a failure of the existence claim for a game in which the information space of only one player is not saturated. The methodology that enables this extension of the necessity theory is novel relative to earlier work, and its conceptual underpinnings may have independent interest.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jogath:v:46:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s00182-016-0528-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s00182-016-0528-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00182-016-0528-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00182-016-0528-8?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 & 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.
    2. Khan, M. Ali & Rath, Kali P. & Yu, Haomiao & Zhang, Yongchao, 2013. "Large distributional games with traits," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 118(3), pages 502-505.
    3. Xiang Sun & Yongchao Zhang, 2015. "Pure-strategy Nash equilibria in nonatomic games with infinite-dimensional action spaces," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 58(1), pages 161-182, January.
    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. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Carmona, Guilherme & Podczeck, Konrad, 2009. "On the existence of pure-strategy equilibria in large games," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 1300-1319, May.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. He, Wei & Sun, Xiang, 2014. "On the diffuseness of incomplete information game," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 131-137.
    13. Roy Radner & Robert W. Rosenthal, 1982. "Private Information and Pure-Strategy Equilibria," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(3), pages 401-409, 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. 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.

    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. 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.
    2. Wei He & Xiang Sun & Yeneng Sun & Yishu Zeng, 2021. "Characterization of equilibrium existence and purification in general Bayesian games," Papers 2106.08563, arXiv.org.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. He, Wei & Sun, Xiang, 2014. "On the diffuseness of incomplete information game," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 131-137.
    7. 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.
    8. Grant, Simon & Meneghel, Idione & Tourky, Rabee, 2016. "Savage games," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 11(2), May.
    9. , & , P. & , & ,, 2015. "Strategic uncertainty and the ex-post Nash property in large games," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 10(1), January.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. Khan, Mohammed Ali & Rath, Kali P. & Yu, Haomiao & Zhang, Yongchao, 2017. "On the equivalence of large individualized and distributionalized games," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(2), May.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. Zeng, Yishu, 2023. "Derandomization of persuasion mechanisms," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    17. 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.
    18. Wu, Bin, 2022. "On pure-strategy Nash equilibria in large games," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 305-315.
    19. 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.
    20. Yang, Jian, 2022. "A Bayesian nonatomic game and its applicability to finite-player situations," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bayesian games; Pure-strategy Nash equilibrium (PSNE); Khan-Rath-Sun game (KRS game); Saturated probability spaces;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C62 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Existence and Stability Conditions of Equilibrium
    • D50 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - General
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:jogath:v:46:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s00182-016-0528-8. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.