Cooperation

Can cooperation between competitors help everyone?

Axelrod, R. M. (2006). The Evolution of Cooperation. New York: Basic Books. Online.

            This book provides an in-depth analysis of cooperation in a non-cooperative game scenario. Axelrod discusses the difference between self-interest and selfishness in terms of understanding that mutual gains made in non-cooperative situations may be calculated into the self-interest of an individual player. This in turn creates a discussion around when cooperation is, and isn’t, part of the self-interest of an individual player in a non-cooperative game.

Dixit, A. Skeath, S. Reily, D. Games of Strategy W.W. Norton & Company. 2015 Print.

            This text introduces the idea that farmers are seen as expendable in the context of receiving financial aid from banking institutions. Dixit also explains that individual farm productivity has little effect on the overall market. (Dixit, Skeath Reily, 2015 p.19) This text is responsible for prompting the reduction of individual farms in a hypothetical game for the application of more complex interactions.

Fisher, Len. Rock Paper Scissors Game Theory in Everyday Life. Basic Books 2008. Print

            Fisher discusses the subtle gravitation people have towards making strategic decisions in seconds. Sometimes these strategic decisions develop themes for analysis. Fisher uses defines benevolent authority () and introduces you to the idea of self-enforcing strategies. (Fisher, 2008 p. 28-30)

Osborne, Martin J. Rubistein, Ariel. A Course in Game Theory. Cambridge, MA, MIT, 1994. Web

            Osborne and Rubinstein interpret the Nash equilibrium in an online publication of the MIT game theory class. They further elaborate on the idea of solution-concepts to non-cooperative games involving Nash equilibria.   The idea of win-lose or zero sum games are also explained in this work (Osborne. Rubistein, 1994).

Nash, J.F. (1950) Non-Cooperative Games. (Doctoral Dissertation)

            Nash pretty much labels the idea that everyone has been scratching at for a long time. The Nash equilibrium explains with a mathematical results that games with n amount of players will consist of at least one pure strategy. This work is a contradiction to the rational belief that acting in ones one self-interest is independent of another players actions. (Nash, 1950)

Singer, E. Game Theory Calls Cooperation into Question. Quantamagazine Feb. 12 2017. Web

            This text is an in-depth look at counterintuitive thinking for prisoner’s dilemma situations. Singer discusses the balance for acting purely in your own self-interest versus extortion. This text suggests that group selection has integral ties to iterated strategic games. (Singer, Web)

Press, W.H. Dyson, F.J. Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma Contains Strategies that Dominate any Evolutionary Opponent. National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Jun. 26 2012, Web

            Unilateral strategies are discussed and the idea of zero determinate strategies are introduced. Extortionate strategies and the math behind these complex iterated scenarios are looked at in depth. Analytical geometry is applied to the solution of these problems.

Pineiro-Chousa, J. Vizcaino-Gonzàlez, M. López-Cabarcos, M. A. (2016). Reputation, Game Theory and Entrepreneurial Sustainability. Sustainability, 8(11), 1196.

This article looks at using social media as an advertising tool for organic farms. It focuses on the length of text as well as the content of various posts on social media. It analyses their reach as well as their impact on potential supporter. Outlined is the fact that there is a drastic under-utilization of social media in the advertising of organic farms.