Game Theory
Conclusion
The award of the Royal Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Science in Memory of Alfred Nobel to John Nash, John Harsanyi, and Reinhard Selten in 1994 recognized the impact of game theory (and a film biography of Nash, based on Nasar's 1998 book, subsequently won Academy Awards for best picture and best actor), while the multivolume Handbook of Game Theory, edited by Robert Aumann and Sergiu Hart (1992–2002), presents a comprehensive overview. Reflecting on what has been achieved, David Kreps concludes that
Non-cooperative game theory … has brought a fairly flexible language to many issues, together with a collection of notions of "similarity" that has allowed economists to move insights from one context to another and to probe the reach of these insights. But too often it, and in particular equilibrium analysis, gets taken too seriously at levels where its current behavioural assumptions are inappropriate. We (economic theorists and economists more broadly) need to keep a better sense of proportion about when and how to use it. And we (economic and game theorists) would do well to see what can be done about developing formally that senses of proportion. (pp. 184)
Strategic interaction has proved to be a powerful idea, and, although its application, especially beyond economics, remains controversial, it has proven fruitful in suggesting new perspectives and new ways of formalizing older insights.
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Robert W. Dimand
Additional topics
Science EncyclopediaScience & Philosophy: Formate to GastropodaGame Theory - The Origins Of Game Theory, Nash Equilibrium, The Nash Bargaining Solution, And The Shapley Value