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Original Essays | November 9, 2009

Jesse Bullington: IMG Abash'd the Devil Stood



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Individual Strategy and Social Structure: An Evolutionary Theory of Institutions

Individual Strategy and Social Structure: An Evolutionary Theory of Institutions Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Neoclassical economics as-sumes that people are highly rational and can reason their way through even the most complex economic problems. In Individual Strategy and Social Structure, Peyton Young argues for a more realistic view in which people have a limited understanding of their environment, are sometimes short-sighted, and occasionally act in perverse ways. He shows how the cumulative experiences of many such individuals coalesce over time into customs, norms, and institutions that govern economic and social life. He develops a theory that predicts how such institutions evolve and characterizes their welfare properties.

The ideas are illustrated through a variety of examples, including patterns of residential segregation, rules of the road, claims on property, forms of economic contracts, and norms of equity. The book relies on new results in evolutionary game theory and stochastic dynamical systems theory, many of them originated by the author. It can serve as an introductory text, or be read on its own as a contribution to the study of economic and social institutions.

Review:

Individual Strategy and Social Structure makes a convincing case for an adaptive, low-rationality, probabilistic approach to game theory and to economics and social science in general.

Review:

In this well written and elegant volume, Peyton Young takes a large step in redirecting the theory and the problems that game theorists deal with. Rather than asking what is the proper equilibrium notion for a game played by fully rational agents capable of making all necessary calculations, he asks what types of conventions of behavior or social institutions will intelligent but not omniscient agents create for themselves when they repeatedly face the same problem that needs to be solved. Clearly this is what the real world looks like and Young brings us closer to it.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Ch. 1Overview3
Ch. 2Learning25
Ch. 3Dynamic and Stochastic Stability44
Ch. 4Adaptive Learning in Small Games66
Ch. 5Variations on the Learning Process77
Ch. 6Local Interaction91
Ch. 7Equilibrium and Disequilibrium Selection in General Games103
Ch. 8Bargaining113
Ch. 9Contracts131
Ch. 10Conclusion144
AppendixProofs of Selected Theorems151
Notes173
Bibliography177
Index185

Product Details

ISBN:
9780691026848
Author:
Young, H. Peyton
Author:
Young, Peyton H.
Publisher:
Princeton
Location:
Princeton, N.J. :
Subject:
Anthropology - Cultural
Subject:
Economics - Theory
Subject:
Institutional economics
Subject:
Game Theory
Subject:
Social institutions
Subject:
Economics - General
Subject:
Economics
Subject:
Political Science and International Relations
Subject:
Sociology
Series Volume:
An Evolutionary Theo
Publication Date:
19980713
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
College/higher education:
Language:
English
Illustrations:
43 line illus., 1 table
Pages:
208
Dimensions:
9 x 6 in

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