Utilitarian Preferences and Potential Games

Arbeitspapier

We study games with utilitarian preferences: the sum of individual utility functions is a generalized ordinal potential for the game. It turns out that generically, any finite game with a potential, ordinal potential, or generalized ordinal potential is better reply equivalent to a game with utilitarian preferences. It follows that generically, finite games with a generalized ordinal potential are better reply equivalent to potential games. For infinite games we show that a continuous game has a continuous ordinal potential, iff there is a better reply equivalent continuous game with utilitarian preferences. For such games we show that best reply improvement paths can be used to approximate equilibria arbitrarily closely.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: Discussion paper ; No. 85

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Noncooperative Games ; Market Structure, Pricing, and Design: Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
• Thema: potential games ; best reply equivalence ; utilitarian preferences

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Salonen, Hannu
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Aboa Centre for Economics (ACE)
• (wo): Turku
• (wann): 2013

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/233301
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:44 MEZ