Game Theory & The Law - Hardcover

Baird, Douglas G

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674341198 ISBN 13: 9780674341197

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1994

Synopsis

This text applies the tools of game theory and information economics to advance the understanding of how laws work. Organized around the major solution concepts of game theory, the authors shows how such well known "games" as the prisoner's dilemma, the battle of the sexes, beer-quiche and the Rubinstein bargaining game can illuminate many different kinds of legal problems. The organization of "Game Theory and the Law" serves to highlight the basic mechanisms at work and to lay out a natural progression in the sophistication of the game concepts and legal problems considered. "Game Theory and the Law" should serve as an accessible primer on game theory for non-specialists. Many of the models and ideas it sets forth, however, are new. The authors show how game theory offers new ways of thinking about problems in anti-discrimination, environmental, labour and many other areas of law. The book makes few formal demands on the reader. The basic concepts of modern game theory are introduced without requiring mathematical tools beyond simple algebra, which is used sparingly. It also contains a comprehensive glossary of legal and economic terms, ranging from the absolute priority rule to von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility theory. It offers those interested in law a new way of thinking about legal rules, and it shows to those interested in game theory a largely unexplored area in which its tools have many applications.

About this title

Review

The most comprehensive and encompassing treatment of this approach... This is the first nontechnical, modern introduction to how (noncooperative) game theory can be applied specifically to legal analysis..."Game Theory and the Law" is a user-friendly analysis of concrete, numerical examples, rather than a theoretical presentation of abstract concepts. The authors introduce and explain, with actual legal cases or hypotheticals, the salient issues of modern game theory. This breadth of coverage is remarkable. This is not just a textbook; it is also something of a research monograph, introducing many new models attributable to the authors alone. -- Peter H. Huang "Jurimetrics Journal" "Game Theory and the Law" is an important book. It is important in the sense that it will serve as a catalyst for an expanded use of game-theoretic models in the study of law. It will be a book that people will one day recognize as having had a considerable influence on its field. And it will receive the praise that accompanies such influence. Happily, such influence will be beneficial to the field of law and such praise will be richly deserved, because "Game Theory and the Law" is an extremely intelligent and thoughtful text...One of the features of the book that is most striking (and, for my part, most welcome) is the thoughtful and sensible manner in which they approach the use of game theory. Unlike many proponents of game-theoretic analysis, they do not present it as the only legitimate approach to social-scientific analysis. The authors present game theory as a powerful tool that can be used along with other approaches to enhance our understanding of the role of law in social life...The persuasiveness of their general argument for the utility of game theory derives from a combination of the power of their insights along with the sensibility of their analysis. The book is written in a clear, concise and interesting manner. Its bibliographic references render it a source book for additional research in both game theory and law. This is a book that should be read by scholars of law in particular and scholars of political behavior in particular. -- Jack Knight "Law and Politics Book Review"

About the Author

Douglas G. Baird is Harry A. Bigelow Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. Robert H. Gertner is Professor of Economics and Strategy at the University of Chicago. Randal C. Picker is Paul and Theo Leffmann Professor of Law at the University of Chicago.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674341198
• ISBN 13: 9780674341197
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 344