From Decision Theory to Game Theory: An Overview with Applications

Michael A. Jones, Apr. 16, 2008

Anytime one person's decision not only affects her own outcome, but another person's outcome, is a situation that can be modeled by game theory. This cocktail party description speaks to game theory's utility. I will discuss how Nash's solution concept generalizes both optimization (from decision theory) and Von Neumann's Minimax Theorem (for zero-sum games) and view decision theory and zero-sum games as subspaces of two-person simultaneous move games. Applications will be drawn from popular culture, sports, and economics.

Michael A. Jones is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey. He earned his PhD under Donald G. Saari from Northwestern University in 1994. His research interests include mathematics as it arises in, and is applied to, the social sciences and discrete mathematics.