OrgTheory.net has a great post today assessing the merits of game theory. The author makes some excellent points. In particular, he points out that some of the more interesting outcomes we see in the social sciences are off-equilibrium–inherently, then, these are the ones that we can’t explain with game theory. Additionally, and more generally as a criticism of rational choice, individuals don’t necessarily make decisions that conform to what we typically think of as the rules that describe rational actors.
Check out the post at OrgTheory.net, and the preceding entry by the same blogger (Michael McBride) about game theory’s potentially misleading name, and meet me back here after the jump.
Cynthia Van Maanen is a contributor to the Quantitative Peace blog and researcher in political science.
