You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
The study of the theory of games was started in Von Neumann (1928), but the development of the theory of games was accelerated after the publication of the classical book "Theory of games and economic behavior" by Von Neumann and Morgenstern (1944). As an initial step, the theory of games aims to put situations of conflict and cooperation into mathematical models. In the second and final step, the resulting models are analysed on the basis of equitable and mathematical reasonings. The conflict and/or cooperative situation in question is generally due to the interaction between two or more individuals (players). Their interaction may lead up to several potential payoffs over which each player...
This book presents the content of a year's course in decision processes for third and fourth year students given at the University of Toronto. A principal theme of the book is the relationship between normative and descriptive decision theory. The distinction between the two approaches is not clear to everyone, yet it is of great importance. Normative decision theory addresses itself to the question of how people ought to make decisions in various types of situations, if they wish to be regarded (or to regard themselves) as 'rational'. Descriptive decision theory purports to describe how people actually make decisions in a variety of situations. Normative decision theory is much more formali...
Political and economic institutions are typically governed by committees that face the challenge to reconcile the preferences of their members. How should decision rules be designed to generate fair and sustainable agreements, for example if committee members represent groups of different sizes? This book uses game-theoretic concepts and models to address the issue of political decision-making processes. In addition to providing a survey on basic game-theoretic tools in the analysis of political decisions, the author looks at specific issues such as two-tiered voting systems or the influence of lobbyists on legislative committees, and shows how the models can be applied to real-world contexts such as the EU decision-making institutions.
This book addresses a significant area of applied social-choice theory--the evaluation of voting procedures designed to select a single winner from a field of three or more candidates. Such procedures can differ strikingly in the election outcomes they produce, the opportunities for manipulation that they create, and the nature of the candidates--centrist or extremist--whom they advantage. The author uses computer simulations based on models of voting behavior and reconstructions of historical elections to assess the likelihood that each multicandidate voting system meets political objectives. Alternative procedures abound: the single-vote plurality method, ubiquitous in the United States, C...
This text for the first or second year undergraduate in mathematics, logic, computer science, or social sciences, introduces the reader to logic, proofs, sets, and number theory. It also serves as an excellent independent study reference and resource for instructors. Adapted from Foundations of Logic and Mathematics: Applications to Science and Cryptography © 2002 Birkhӓuser, this second edition provides a modern introduction to the foundations of logic, mathematics, and computers science, developing the theory that demonstrates construction of all mathematics and theoretical computer science from logic and set theory. The focuses is on foundations, with specific statements of all the asso...
Optimization and Operations Research is a component of Encyclopedia of Mathematical Sciences in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Optimization and Operations Research is organized into six different topics which represent the main scientific areas of the theme: 1. Fundamentals of Operations Research; 2. Advanced Deterministic Operations Research; 3. Optimization in Infinite Dimensions; 4. Game Theory; 5. Stochastic Operations Research; 6. Decision Analysis, which are then expanded into multiple subtopics, each as a chapter. These four volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers and NGOs.
In this book applications of cooperative game theory that arise from combinatorial optimization problems are described. It is well known that the mathematical modeling of various real-world decision-making situations gives rise to combinatorial optimization problems. For situations where more than one decision-maker is involved classical combinatorial optimization theory does not suffice and it is here that cooperative game theory can make an important contribution. If a group of decision-makers decide to undertake a project together in order to increase the total revenue or decrease the total costs, they face two problems. The first one is how to execute the project in an optimal way so as ...
An Annotated Timeline of Operations Research: An Informal History recounts the evolution of Operations Research (OR) as a new science - the science of decision making. Arising from the urgent operational issues of World War II, the philosophy and methodology of OR has permeated the resolution of decision problems in business, industry, and government. The Timeline chronicles the history of OR in the form of self-contained, expository entries. Each entry presents a concise explanation of the events and people under discussion, and provides key sources where further relevant information can be obtained. In addition, books and papers that have influenced the development of OR or helped to educa...
This is the second of three volumes surveying the state of the art in Game Theory and its applications to many and varied fields, in particular to economics. The chapters in the present volume are contributed by outstanding authorities, and provide comprehensive coverage and precise statements of the main results in each area. The applications include empirical evidence. The following topics are covered: communication and correlated equilibria, coalitional games and coalition structures, utility and subjective probability, common knowledge, bargaining, zero-sum games, differential games, and applications of game theory to signalling, moral hazard, search, evolutionary biology, international relations, voting procedures, social choice, public economics, politics, and cost allocation. This handbook will be of interest to scholars in economics, political science, psychology, mathematics and biology. For more information on the Handbooks in Economics series, please see our home page on http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/hes