Rational Interaction

The unifying theme of the 23 contributions to this book is the social interaction of rational individuals. The work of John C. Harsanyi on game theory social choice and the philosophy of science finds an echo in these essays. Contributions by well known game theorists and economists present a great variety of stimulating theoretical investigations. Part I contains six papers on non-cooperative game theory written by Maschler Owen Myerson Peleg Rosenmüller Hart and Mas-Collel. Part II with three contributions by Kalei Samet van Damme dAspremont and Gérard-Varet is devoted to the use of non-cooperative game theory in the analysis of problems of mechanism design. Basic questions of non-cooperative game theory are discussed in three essays by Güth Hardin and Sugden in Part III. Applied game models are discussed in three papers by Friedman Selten and Shubik in Part IV. Problems of social choice are investigated in Part V which deals with utilitarianism and related topics in five contributions by Hammond Binmore Arrow Roemer and Broome. Finally Part VI contains three an interdisciplinary comparison of physics and economics by Samuelson a methodological essay by Brock and an appraisal of the work of John C. Harsanyi.