Game Theory for Applied Economists

by Robert Gibbons

Book Overview

An introduction to one of the most powerful tools in modern economics

Game Theory for Applied Economists introduces one of the most powerful tools of modern economics to a wide audience: those who will later construct or consume game-theoretic models. Robert Gibbons addresses scholars in applied fields within economics who want a serious and thorough discussion of game theory but who may have found other works too abstract...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691003955
• ISBN13: 9780691003955
• Release Date: July 1992
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Great book for serious students!

Many readers have commented on how technical this book is. I agree, but keep in mind, this book was written for students who aim to become economists, and a certain degree of technical difficulty is imperative. I confess that I struggled through the book, and I often came upon huge obstacles. But none of the difficulties that I faced were due to the book itself, all of the struggles were due to my own limited ability. But I guarantee, once you get through this book, you will be able to "use" game theory, and probably even incorporate it in your next research project! This book was written for those who wish to use game theory in their next research paper, and it does an excellent job of it. If you are only searching for a book to understand game theory, then this book is not for you. But if you want to "use" game theory, then look no further!

excellent introduction (it's worth the money!)

I've used this book both as a textbook and as a reference in three game theory courses, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It doesn't cover some critical applications to contract theory, but other than that it's absolutely thorough and clear. I don't know if it would be all that fun for someone just looking to dabble in game theory without any academic interests. I can recommend Strategy by Joel Watson for those folks - much more intuitive and has lots of examples. But if you're academically interested in game theory at all, you have to get this book. It's a great reference, and absolutely worth the money (I can't usually say that about my textbooks!).

An excellent short text

This is an excellent quick guide to the essentials fo Game theory for graduate level students. While is has slightly less detail than Tirole and Fudenberg's Game Theory, and fewer stories and context than Binmore's "Fun and Games" (an undergraduate level text), this book is very important in presenting the structure of non-cooperative game theory in a lean manner. It is also very good as a reference text.

Gibbons The Great....

After living through a semester of Andy Mas-Collell's "one-ton-book-of-fun" it has been a joy to read Gibbons terrific introductory Game Theory text. A textbook that even non-economists might enjoy. Nice examples, good pace, fun stuff.

Clealy the best game theory book till now.

Mas-Collel et alia, Fudenberg & Tirole, Myerson Rubinstein & Osborne have to do a lot of work to write a Game theory book as good as this one!!. Only Kreps and perhaps Rasmusen do not write as obscure and incomptehensible as the above cited authors. Anyway, congratulations Robert, you beat them all!!