Best introduction game theory books

Stable matching and allocation This book is an outgrowth of courses we have taught and discussions we have had with many friends and colleagues. Ben partakes in a groundbreaking experiment on human emotions, convinced by his oxford professor. Some of the material in chapters5,8, and9is based on parts of a draft of a book on models of bounded rationality by ar.

It is the shortest of the three, but the most elegant. Do nothing s hp spectre x hp. Download free books at bookboon. Ken binmore has 31 books on goodreads with ratings. This textbook provides an overview of the field of game theory which analyses decision situations that have the character of games. See my full review. Matching markets like this seek to find the best pairings so the outcome is stable—no pair of people would prefer to be matched over the assignments.

This book helps you understand how to design markets that lead to better outcomes. You can read my full review here. The short summary is this is a popular science book that connects game theory to everyday situations and offers several strategies for achieving cooperation.

I enjoyed this book purely for its game theory content, including its treatment of fair division, auction theory, credible threats, the Nash equilibrium, and voting theory. Because the book is about parenting, it offers many applications and examples not covered in a standard game theory text. For more about the book, check out my interview with co-author Kevin Zollman: here.

This is a book with many examples of real-life strategic situations. Game Theory Bargaining by William Spaniel. This book explains the game theory of negotiation power. It will help you understand the sources of negotiation power and how you can get better deals for yourself.

The Game Theory by Uri Bram. The only book on this list that explains the game theory of why women wear yoga pants. Uri Bram is an engaging writer and this short read is an entertaining one. This book is part biography of John Von Neumann, part a non-technical introduction to game theory, and part a historical discussion of the RAND institute.

Anyone that learns game theory should know its historical roots and how game theory is inexplicably tied to the research at the RAND institute. The book is about the game theory of voting, full of great historical examples from political races. This book seems best suited for business schools as opposed to an undergraduate course. The best part is the case studies, such as how a marketing company profited big when soliciting donations for charities.

This is an excellent introduction to game theory that also includes a discussion of evolutionary applications. It is an innovative textbook with many interesting exercises. This textbook is a great introduction to game theory distinguished by its discussion of philosophy. The book covers a large range of topics, and the section on auction theory is especially interesting.

This is a graduate level text on game theory for a serious mathematical study of the subject. This book explains the mathematics of many board games and games of gambling, like how to calculate the most landed spot in the board game Monopoly. Games and Information by Eric Rasmussen. This textbook offers very good suggestions on how to specify game theory models and how to avoid modeling mistakes. For instance, one discussion explains how Harold Hotelling actually made a mistake in his paper about location competition.

The author notes that Hotelling should have worked out some numerical examples. The introduction also contains an annotated bibliography for game theory texts.

This is another book that is useful for someone that already knows game theory and wants to learn it on a deeper level, both non-cooperative and cooperative game theory are addressed.

Almost every textbook in this list cites this book, which was originally published in The book is a critical survey and it discusses how game theory assumptions are not always appropriate for social sciences, and how experiments do not confirm the predictions.

The technical appendices contain mathematical proofs for the more advanced reader. This book reminded me how economic textbooks used to be written: with a lot of discussion and a scattering of math. This was one of the first texts to explain game theory in a non-technical way without requiring the reader to follow complicated proofs. Micromotives and Macrobehavior by Thomas Schelling. Long before Malcolm Gladwell wrote about tipping points, Thomas Schelling explained the economics and mathematics of it in this delightful book.

The book covers his tipping model of racial segregation and all sorts of other neat ideas. This book also introduces agent-based modeling, the idea that societal outcomes can be determined by modeling individuals with simple preferences. The Strategy of Conflict by Thomas Schelling. This book was first published in and discusses game theory in a political context of deterrence. It introduced the idea of focal points. It is light-hearted at times and even witty. This is the classic text that developed utility and game theory rigorously from axioms and set theory.

This is another text that explains game theory in a non-technical manner. This is a book on zero-sum games. It is highly technical but will be interesting to someone that enjoys linear algebra. The Essential John Nash. This text includes 9 research papers from John Nash, including his PhD thesis that described a solution concept that we call a Nash equilibrium. It is amazing Nash won the Nobel prize for a paper that is barely 26 pages.

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner have written the most entertaining and interesting economics reads. While not everything is strictly game theory, almost all of the examples illustrate strategic thinking. This is an interesting work of fiction that explores the tension of cooperation and selfishness. A Beautiful Mind. The book and the movie are both worthwhile.

Ury, Bruce Patton Revised Editions. This is a classic text on negotiating that offers practical advice on how to resolve conflict by looking for solutions. One of the most important lessons is to focus on mutual interests instead of conflicting starting positions. For example, when you call a cable company for a complaint, obviously you and the phone rep will have very opposite positions.

Once you start thinking strategically, you will pave out easy solutions for most difficult problem. William Spaniel has offered a way to dig into basic concepts of game theory through his book; Game Theory The simple reason for understanding basic concepts of game theory is that it really works in Business world. Following are the few benefits of game theory. It can help you in proper decision making in different business and daily life situations.

Experience of business is important but combination with game theory you will be able to achieve your goals with perfection. Understanding your competitor is the most important thing in business. You can not compete anyone if you have incomplete information about them. Game theory will help you recognize strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. Game theory reduces the risks by helping you to predict the future situations like income expectation and projected market shares.

So, you can act accordingly and avoid major business troubles.