Oligopoly and Game Theory

You may have noticed the discussion in Taylor (2014) at the end of Chapter 10 about oligopoly and the prisoner’s dilemma. The prisoner’s dilemma is an example of game theory. A “game” is like a board game, as your optimal move depends on what your opponent does. The same holds in oligopoly, as your own decisions as to what price to charge or how much to produce depend on what your competitors do.

Take a look at the following video that tries to illustrate oligopoly and game theory through a Batman movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMq059SAQXM

Find one other YouTube video on game theory and share the link with your classmates. Then discuss the following issues:

• • Did the Batman video or the other video you found help explain the concept of game theory? Or was it just silly?
  • Besides oligopoly, can you think of any other situations that game theory is useful for? This can be situations in the business world, in your own workplace, or even something you saw in a movie or TV show.
  • What do you find easier to follow – the game theory matrices or the math equations/computations that you’ve used in this class?

Finally, watch some of the game theory videos that your classmates found and give your comments on these videos.