The logic of backward induction

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Theory
Year: 2015
Volume: 159
Issue: PA
Pages: 443-464

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Call a perfect information (PI) game simple if each player moves just once. Call a player rational if he never takes an action while believing, with probability 1, that a different action would yield him a higher payoff. Using syntactic logic, we show that an outcome of a simple PI game is consistent with common strong belief of rationality iff it is a backward induction outcome. The result also applies to general PI games in which a player's agents act independently, rendering forward inferences invalid.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jetheo:v:159:y:2015:i:pa:p:443-464
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24