Game Practice: Contributions from Applied Game Theory

This collection of papers is an outgrowth of the "Game Practice I" conference. The overall content of this book is firmly rooted in existing game theory. Much experimental and observational evidence demonstrates that there is a large gap between theory and "practice". There is no doubt that theory is nonetheless needed, and that it has to be developed. At the same time there is a risk of sterile developments if theory is not fed by challenges coming from confronting the real world. In this respect, the editors' feelings are that there is a need for a better balance between theory and applications. The kind of considerations sketched above gave birth to the idea of organizing a series of meetings to stimulate research in game theory which seeks a more direct connection with real world problems. Most of the contributions can be roughly classified into four groups: political applications; problems of cost/reward sharing; economic applications; and experiments. The collection is relevant to academics working in game theory and related topics such as management, decision theory and industrial organization.