Jump to ContentJump to Main Navigation

Online

49,00 € / $74.00*

* Prices subject to change. Shipping costs will be added if applicable.
Publication Date:
November 2004
ISSN:
1935-1704
DOI:
10.2202/1534-598X.1020

See all formats and pricing

Online
Individual Subscription Online only
Euro [D] 49.00
RRP for USA, Canada, Mexico
US$ 74.00 *
Print
Individual Subscription Online only
Euro [D] 234.00
RRP for USA, Canada, Mexico
US$ 315.00 *
Print + Online
Individual Subscription Online only
Euro [D] 281.00
RRP for USA, Canada, Mexico
US$ 378.00 *
*Prices subject to change. Shipping costs will be added if applicable.

Ed. by Cervellati, Matteo / Fong, Yuk-fai / Peeters, Ronald / Puzzello , Daniela / Rivas, Javier / Schipper, Burkhard

1 Issue per year

Increased IMPACT FACTOR 2011: 0.490

Counterfactual Reasoning and Common Knowledge of Rationality in Normal Form Games

Eduardo Zambrano1

1University of Notre Dame, ezambran@calpoly.edu

Citation Information: Topics in Theoretical Economics. Volume 4, Issue 1, Pages –, ISSN (Online) 1534-598X, DOI: 10.2202/1534-598X.1020, November 2004

Publication History:
Published Online:
2004-11-10

When evaluating the rationality of a player in a game one has to examine counterfactuals such as "what would happen if the player were to do what he does not do?" In this paper I develop a model of a normal form game where counterfactuals of this sort are evaluated as in the philosophical literature (cf. Lewis, 1973; Stalnaker, 1968). According to this method one evaluates a statement like ``what would the player believe if he were to do what he does not do'' at the world that is closest to the actual world where the hypothetical deviation occurs. I show that in this model common knowledge of rationality need not lead to rationalizability. I also present assumptions that allow rationalizability to follow from common knowledge of rationality. These assumptions suggest that rationalizability may not rely on weaker assumptions about belief consistency than Nash equilibrium.

Keywords: Common knowledge; counterfactual reasoning; interactive epistemology; rationalizability.

Comments (0)

Please log in or register to comment.