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On Sustainable Equilibria

Author

Listed:
  • Srihari Govindan

    (University of Rochester [USA])

  • Rida Laraki

    (LAMSADE - Laboratoire d'analyse et modélisation de systèmes pour l'aide à la décision - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Lucas Pahl

    (Economics Department - University of Bonn)

Abstract

Following the ideas laid out in Myerson (1996), Hofbauer (2003) defined a Nash equilibrium of a finite game as sustainable if it can be made the unique Nash equilibrium of a game obtained by deleting/adding a subset of the strategies that are inferior replies to it. This paper proves a result about sustainable equilibria and uses it to provide a refinement as well. Our result concerns the Hofbauer-Myerson conjecture about the relationship between the sustainability of an equilibrium and its index: for a generic class of games, an equilibrium is sustainable iff its index is +1. von Schemde and von Stengel (2008) proved this conjecture for bimatrix games; we show that the conjecture is true for all finite games. More precisely, we prove that an equilibrium is isolated and has index +1 if and only if it can be made unique in a larger game obtained by adding finitely many strategies that are inferior replies to that equilibrium. It follows in a straightforward way from our result that sustainable equilibria fail the Decomposition Axiom for games as formulated by Mertens (1989a). In order to rectify this problem we propose a refinement, called strongly sustainable equilibria, which is shown to exist for all regular games.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Srihari Govindan & Rida Laraki & Lucas Pahl, 2020. "On Sustainable Equilibria," Post-Print hal-03767987, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03767987
    DOI: 10.1145/3391403.3399514
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ritzberger, Klaus, 2002. "Foundations of Non-Cooperative Game Theory," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199247868.
    2. Arndt Schemde, 2005. "Index and Stability in Bimatrix Games," Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, Springer, number 978-3-540-29102-2, December.
    3. Demichelis, Stefano & Ritzberger, Klaus, 2003. "From evolutionary to strategic stability," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 51-75, November.
    4. Andrew McLennan, 2018. "Advanced Fixed Point Theory for Economics," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-981-13-0710-2, September.
    5. P. Herings & Ronald Peeters, 2010. "Homotopy methods to compute equilibria in game theory," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 42(1), pages 119-156, January.
    6. Ritzberger, Klaus, 1994. "The Theory of Normal Form Games form the Differentiable Viewpoint," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 23(3), pages 207-236.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C02 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Mathematical Economics
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games

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