Non-Cooperative Stability Definitions for Strategic Analysis of Generic Water Resources Conflicts

    Authors

    K. Madani;K. W. Hipel

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Water Resour. Manag.

    Keywords

    Game theory; Conflict resolution; Stability definitions; Solution; concepts; Non-cooperative behavior; Strategic game; Policy; Water; resources management; DECISION-SUPPORT-SYSTEM; MANAGING GLOBAL HAZARDS; GAME-THEORY; BARGAINING PROBLEM; COOPERATIVE GAMES; DRAMA THEORY; PART II; ALLOCATION; MANAGEMENT; BASIN; Engineering, Civil; Water Resources

    Abstract

    In game theory, potential resolutions to a conflict are found through stability analysis, based on stability definitions having precise mathematical structures. A stability definition reflects a decision maker's behavior in a conflict or game, predicts how the game is played, and suggests the resolutions or equilibria of the dispute. Various stability definitions, reflecting different types of people with different levels of foresight, risk attitude, and knowledge of opponents' preferences, have been proposed for resolving games. This paper reviews and illustrates six stability definitions, applicable to finite strategy strategic non-cooperative water resources games, including Nash Stability, General Metarationality (GMR), Symmetric Metarationality (SMR), Sequential Stability (SEQ), Limited-Move Stability, and Non-Myopic Stability. The introduced stability definitions are applied to an interesting and highly informative range of generic water resources games to show how analytical results vary based on the applied stability definitions. The paper suggests that game theoretic models can better simulate real conflicts if the applied stability definitions better reflect characteristics of the players. When there is a lack of information about the types of decision makers, the employment of a range of stability definitions might improve the strategic results and provide useful insights into the basic framework of the conflict and its resolution.

    Journal Title

    Water Resources Management

    Volume

    25

    Issue/Number

    8

    Publication Date

    1-1-2011

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    1949

    Last Page

    1977

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000290585700003

    ISSN

    0920-4741

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