05 - Dynamic Games of Complete Information Flashcards

1
Q

What is a subgame of an extensive-form game?

A

a) begins at a decision node D that is a singleton information set,
b) includes all the decision and terminal nodes following D in the game tree (but no other nodes), and
c) does not cut any information sets (i.e., if a decision node ˜D follows D, then all other nodes in the information set containing ˜D must also follow D).

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2
Q

What is a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium (SPNE)?

A

A strategy profile σ in an extensive-form game is a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium (SPNE) if it induces a Nash equilibrium in every subgame

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3
Q

How do subgame perfect Nash equilibrium (SPNE) and NE relate?

A

Every SPNE is a Nash equilibrium, but the reverse need not hold

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4
Q

In a finite game of perfect information, when is a strategy profile subgame perfect?

A

In a finite game of perfect information, a strategy profile is a SPNE if and only if it is a Nash equilibrium that can be derived through backwards induction.

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5
Q

What does Zermelo’s Theorem imply about subgame perfect Nash equilibria?

A

Every finite game of perfect information has a pure-strategy SPNE. Moreover, if no player has the same payoffs at any two terminal nodes, then there is a unique SPNE.

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6
Q

How does a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium look like?

A

A subgame perfect Nash equilibrium is a strategy profile: it specifies actions for every information set in the game tree.

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7
Q

How does a subgame perfect outcome look like?

A

A subgame perfect outcome describes the path from the initial node to the terminal node that is reached when SPNE strategies are played.

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8
Q

How do Backwards Induction (BI) and SPNE relate?

A

SPNE generalizes backwards induction (BI): whenever BI applicable, SPNE and BI equivalent, but SPNE also applies to

(i) imperfect information and
(ii) infinite-horizon games.

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9
Q

How does the one-shot deviation principle help to identify SPNE?

A

In the above class of extensive-form games for T < 1, a strategy profile s* = (s1, …, sn) is an SPNE if and only if for every player i, there is no profitable one-shot deviation from s*i .
Idea of proof:
-> If there is a profitable one-shot deviation, there is a profitable deviation in some subgame, contradicting SPNE.
-> Suppose there is a profitable deviation; however complicated it is, there is a last subgame where itdeviates (BI intuition).

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10
Q

How can you check whether a strategy x fulfills the one-shot-deviation principle?

A

1) identify all one-shot-deviations (=at one node, choose different strategy)
2) compare that u(x) >= u(each deviation)
Note: the evaluation of the utility takes place at the node of deviation!

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