Readings in games and information / edited by Eric Rasmusen.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The theory of games is a subfield of mathematics and economics that models situations in which individuals compete and cooperate with each other. Selections in this volume range from classical and contemporary journal articles to news clippings and portions of popular novels.

Pt. 1. The Rules of the Game -- 1. The Prisoner's Dilemma / Philip D. Straffin, Jr. -- 2. A Two-Person Dilemma / Albert Tucker -- 3. Equilibrium Points in N-Person Games / John F. Nash, Jr. -- 4. Non-Cooperative Games / John F. Nash, Jr. -- 5. To Ensure High Prices, Some Haulers Have Been Known to Break the Rules / Jeff Bailey -- 6. Cash Flow: 'Pay to Play' is Banned, But Muni-Bound Firms Keep the Game Going / Charles Gasparino and Josh P. Hamilton -- 7. School of Genius / Sylvia Nasar -- 8. Cartoon: Ratbert and Consultant / Scott Adams -- Pt. 2. Information -- 9. The Donation Booth / Ian Ayres and Jeremy Bulow -- 10. The Horatii and the Curiatii / Livy -- 11. TREES -- A Decision-Maker's Lament / Michael H. Rothkopf -- 12. Knowing and Showing Economics and Law / Judith Lachman -- 13. Cartoon: "All Those in Favor, Say 'Aye'" / Henry Martin -- Pt. 3. Mixed and Continuous Strategies -- 14. Colonel Blotto: A Problem of Military Strategy / John McDonald and John W. Tukey -- 15. Dutch Accountants Take on a Formidable Task: Ferreting Out "Cheaters" in the Ranks of OPEC / Paul Hemp -- 16. Shipping Price-Fixing Pacts Hurt Consumers, Critics Say / Anna Wilde Mathews -- 17. The Conference Handbook / George Stigler -- 18. Cartoon: "Very Guilty" / Jim Unger -- Pt. 4. Dynamic Games with Symmetric Information -- 19. On An Application of Set Theory to the Theory of the Game of Chess / Ernst Zermelo -- 20. The Strategy of Conflict / Thomas C. Schelling -- 21. Does the Fittest Necessarily Survive? / Martin Shubik -- 22. Shooting the Bird's Eye / Elizabeth Seeger -- 23. Cartoon: "That's It? That's Peer Review?" / Sidney Harris -- Pt. 5. Reputation and Repeated Games with Symmetric Information -- 24. The Evolution of Cooperation / Robert Axelrod and William D. Hamilton -- 25. This Tax Amnesty Will Work Only Once / Robert J. Barro and Alan Stockman -- 26. Fare Warning: How Airlines Trade Price Plans / Asra Q. Nomani -- 27. Starting Research Early / Harry V. Roberts and Roman L. Weil -- 28. Cartoon: Einstein Discovers that Time is Actually Money / Gary Larson -- Pt. 6. Dynamic Games with Incomplete Information -- 29. Rational Cooperation in the Finitely Repeated Prisoners' Dilemma / David M. Kreps, Paul Milgrom and John Roberts / [et al.] -- 30. Cheap Talk, Coordination, and Entry / Joseph Farrell -- 31. Wise Guy: Life in a Mafia Family / Nicholas Pileggi -- 32. Cartoon: "Say, I Think I See Where We Went Off ..." / Ed Fisher -- Pt. 7. Moral Hazard: Hidden Actions -- 33. Monopoly Slack and Competitive Rigor: A Simple Model / Joseph Farrell -- 34. An Optimal Conviction Policy for Offenses that May Have Been Committed by Accident / Ariel Rubinstein -- 35. Bonded Worker in No Guarantee of a Perfect Job / Teri Agins -- 36. Cartoon: "Look, Ted! We Get Paid the Same as You but All We're Doing is Standing Around and Flicking our Fingers" / Scott Adams -- Pt. 8. Further Topics in Moral Hazard -- 37. Wealth of Nations / Adam Smith -- 38. Examples of Plea Bargains / Eric Rasmusen -- 39. Unions Say Auto Firms Use Interplant Rivalry to Raise Work Quotas / Dale D. Buss -- 40. Cartoon: "Dilbert, I Want You to Manage Wally's Project While He's on Vacation in Aruba" / Scott Adams -- Pt. 9. Adverse Selection -- 41. The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism / George A. Akerlof -- 42. The Only Game in Town / Walter Bagehot -- 43. Are Advertisers Ready to Pay Their Viewers? / Bart Ziegler -- 44. The Creation of New Mathematics: An Application of the Lakatos Heuristic / Philip J. Davis, Reuben Hersh and Elena Marchisotto -- 45. Cartoon: Frank's Neurosurgery / Gary Larson -- Pt. 10. Mechanism Design in Adverse Selection and in Moral Hazard with Hidden Information -- 46. Tie Salesmen's Bonuses to Their Forecasts / Jacon Gonik -- 47. Car-Buying Services Can Save Money, Especially for Those who Hate Haggling / Melinda Grenier Guiles -- 48. How to Build an Economic Model in Your Spare Time / Hal R. Varian -- 49. Cartoon: "Of Course That's Only an Estimate ..." / Sidney Hoff -- Pt. 11. Signalling -- 50. High and Declining Prices Signal Product Quality / Kyle Bagwell and Michael H. Riordan -- 51. The Argument of an Appeal / John W. Davis -- 52. Cartoon: "Yes, but the Trouble is he Always Wears that Mysterious Smile" / Sidney Hoff -- Pt. 12. Bargaining -- 53. The Bargaining Problem / John F. Nash, Jr. -- 54. Perfect Equilibrium in a Bargaining Model / Ariel Rubinstein -- 55. UPS Faces More Than $1 Billion of Year in New Labor Expenses: Pact Calls for Substantial Pay Increases, Full-Time Jobs and a Union Pension Plan / Douglas A. Blackmon, Martha Brannigan and Glenn Burkins / [et al.] -- 56. Cartoon: "Whatever Happened to Elegant Solutions?" / Sidney Harris -- Pt. 13. Auctions -- 57. The Dollar Auction Game: A Paradox in Noncooperative Behavior and Escalation / Martin Shubik -- 58. Analyzing the Airwaves Auction / R. Preston McAfee and John McMillan -- 59. At Many Auctions, Illegal Bidding Thrives as a Longtime Practice Among Dealers / Meg Cox -- 60. Cartoon: "The Next Item up for Bid is the Presidency of the United States ..." / Rob Rogers -- Pt. 14. Pricing -- 61. Stability in Competition / Harold Hotelling -- 62. The Mathematical Economics of Professor Amoroso / Francis Edgeworth -- 63. Existence and Computation of Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibrium for 3-Firms Location Problem / Avner Shaked -- 64. Busting a Trust: Electrical Contractors Reel Under Charges That They Rigged Bids / Andy Pasztor -- 65. Cartoon: "Isn't it Great that We Don't Get Any More Pesky Calls during Dinner Asking us to Switch Long-Distance Companies?" / Rob Rogers -- Pt. 15. Entry -- 66. The Fat-Cat Effect, the Puppy-Dog Poly, and the Lean and Hungry Look / Drew Fudenberg and Jean Tirole -- 67. Drugs: Novel Heart-Drug Deal Protects Sales, Spurs Suit / Ralph T. King, Jr. -- 68. Aphorisms on Writing, Speaking, and Listening / Eric Rasmusen -- 69. Cartoon: Henry and the Candy Shop / Carl Anderson.