ProfessorJohnC.Harsanyi,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,CA,USA,
Dr.JohnF.Nash,PrincetonUniversity,Princeton,NJ,USA,
ProfessorDr.ReinhardSelten,RheinischeFriedrich-Wilhelms-Universität,Bonn,Germany,
fortheirpioneeringanalysisofequilibriainthetheoryofnon-cooperativegames.
GamesastheFoundationforUnderstandingComplexEconomicIssues
Gametheoryemanatesfromstudiesofgamessuchaschessorpoker.Everyoneknowsthatinthesegames,playershavetothinkahead-deviseastrategybasedonexpectedcountermovesfromtheotherplayer(s).Suchstrategicinteractionalsocharacterizesmanyeconomicsituations,andgametheoryhasthereforeprovedtobeveryusefulineconomicanalysis.
ThefoundationsforusinggametheoryineconomicswereintroducedinamonumentalstudybyJohnvonNeumannandOskarMorgensternentitledTheoryofGamesandEconomicBehavior(1944).Today,50yearslater,gametheoryhasbecomeadominanttoolforanalyzingeconomicissues.Inparticular,non-cooperativegametheory,i.e.,thebranchofgametheorywhichexcludesbindingagreements,hashadgreatimpactoneconomicresearch.Theprincipalaspectofthistheoryistheconceptofequilibrium,whichisusedtomakepredictionsabouttheoutcomeofstrategicinteraction.JohnF.Nash,ReinhardSeltenandJohnC.Harsanyiarethreeresearcherswhohavemadeeminentcontributionstothistypeofequilibriumanalysis.
JohnF.Nashintroducedthedistinctionbetweencooperativegames,inwhichbindingagreementscanbemade,andnon-cooperativegames,wherebindingagreementsarenotfeasible.Nashdevelopedanequilibriumconceptfornon-cooperativegamesthatlatercametobecalledNashequilibrium.
ReinhardSeltenwasthefirsttorefinetheNashequilibriumconceptforanalyzingdynamicstrategicinteraction.Hehasalsoappliedtheserefinedconceptstoanalysesofcompetitionwithonlyafewsellers.
JohnC.Harsanyishowedhowgamesofincompleteinformationcanbeanalyzed,therebyprovidingatheoreticalfoundationforalivelyfieldofresearch-theeconomicsofinformation-whichfocusesonstrategicsituationswheredifferentagentsdonotknoweachothers'objective