Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict

• #10 in Best Game Theory Books

7 Reviews

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I just completed a game theory book (Game Theory Evolving, Princeton University Press, 2000). To find the best way to present various materials, I went through virtually every game theory book in existence. For the presentation of the basic material on normal and extensive form games, nothing even came close to this book in clarity of presentation and depth of understanding of the issues. Most textbooks, even highly touted ones that are mathematically challenging, do not even come close, and rarely even present the material in a coherent form at all.

I used to do a lot of carpentry, and I always knew the good carpenters from the run of the mill. The latter talk about how to build stuff. The good ones talked about how you choose, preserve, treat, and sharpen your tools. Myerson is, for game theory, like the good carpenter, and this book is more about the nature of the tools of game theory than their deployment--although it is certainly that, too.

The subtitle of this book is silly ("The Analysis of Conflict"). Game theory is the analysis of cooperation as much as conflict, and much, much else as well. So is this book.

I found this book very helpful in my first year of the Ph D in Economics. I also have used MasColell and Kreps but Myerson was the only one that actually help me understanding complicated concepts as the always Hard Sequential Equilibrium. It is the only book that covers both, sequential and Perfect equilibrium with examples and solutions so that you understand what is going on. If you are willing to buy a Game Theory book I will definitely go for this one. If that is not enough you should also see that the cost benefit ratio of Myerson's book is undoubtly the best of any other one.

Adrian Peralta. Graduate Student University of Minnesota Economics Department

This book is a masterpiece: it goes from the simple and straightforward (with examples of sequential equilibria) to technical and challenging material (such as the Mertens-Zamir type space). I own Fudenberg-Tirole and Osborne-Rubinstein, but it is Myerson that gets picked up the most. What I find most rewarding is that Myerson introduces everything gently, working from examples to build a general theory.

This book is not good only because it explains all well known difficult concepts which noone so far has been able to explain clearly and rigourosly in one book but for new important topics that are less known for the majority of game theorists. I'm refering to the idea of networks and cooperation structures and also cooperation under uncertainty with the idea of virtual utility.

very comprehensive book. Covers pretty much everything. It's supposed to be a graduate text but undergrads can handle it as long as they know some math and aren't too scared by all the notation. Oh and Myerson is nice guy too.

Even though Myerson asserts that this book is intended to be "a general introduction to game theory" in Preface, it is difficult to understand for beginners who have not mathematics knowledge in the level of upper class. In this point, the volume is different from other introductions - e.g. Morton Davis' "Game Theory"-, rather is suitable for M.A. or first year Ph.D students. However, this book is not so much for students majoring economics as for various social sceintists in the sense that it does not focus on only "economics" but on pure game "theory" in nearly all areas.

excellent book,very comprehensive step by step approach.I especially enjoyed the sections on Nash equilibria and infinite strategies.Great for those who wish to understand the underlying foundations of decision making via both simple and intricate mathematics. The concepts are also explained well in english through generally understood examples.