Log-linear dynamics and local potential

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Theory
Year: 2012
Volume: 147
Issue: 3
Pages: 1140-1164

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

We show that local potential maximizer (Morris and Ui (2005) [14]), a generalization of potential maximizer, is stochastically stable in the log-linear dynamic if the payoff functions are, or the associated local potential is, supermodular. Thus an equilibrium selection result similar to those on robustness to incomplete information (Morris and Ui (2005) [14]), and on perfect foresight dynamic (Oyama et al. (2008) [18]) holds for the log-linear dynamic. An example shows that stochastic stability of an LP-max is not guaranteed for non-potential games without the supermodularity condition. We investigate sensitivity of the log-linear dynamic to cardinal payoffs and its consequence on the stability of weighted local potential maximizer. In particular, for 2×2 games, we examine a modified log-linear dynamic (relative log-linear dynamic) under which local potential maximizer with positive weights is stochastically stable. The proof of the main result relies on an elementary method for stochastic ordering of Markov chains.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jetheo:v:147:y:2012:i:3:p:1140-1164
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29