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Dominance

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95 views3 pages

Dominance

Uploaded by

shashikumard29
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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GAME THEORY

Solution of a game Without a Saddle point.


By- Parthapratim Choudhury
Asst. Prof. M.C. College, Barpeta

1. Explain how a rectangular game without a saddle point is solved.


Ans: If a Rectangular game does not have a Saddle point, the two players cannot use
Pure Strategies i.e. Maximin and Minimax criterion of optimality. Then the best
strategies are Mixed strategies. The two players, instead of selecting one strategy
may play their plays according to some predetermined set which consists of
probabilities corresponding to each of their pure strategies.
Properties of Optimal Mixed strategies:
1. If one of the players adheres to his optimal mixed strategy and the other deviates
from his optimal strategy, then the deviating player cannot increase his pay off.
In other words by deviating from his Optimal Mixed strategy a player can only
decrease his yield.
2. If one of the players adheres to his optimal mixed strategy then the value of the
game does not change if the opponent uses his/her supporting strategies
directly or in mix.
3. If a constant c is added to each element of the pay off matrix, the optimal
strategies remain unchanged while the value of the game increases by c.
4. If every element of the pay off matrix is multiplied by a constant c , then the
optimal strategies remain unchanged and the value of the game increases by c
times.
SOLUTION OF A 2X2 GAME WITHOUT A SADDLE POINT
A rectangular game without a saddle point cannot be solved using pure
strategies or with minimax and Maximin criterion of optimality. So, in this case
the best strategies are the Mixed strategies. In this strategy the probability with
which each action should be selected is calculated.
The following theorem is followed to find the solution of a two person 2X2
pay off matrix without a saddle point.
For any two person game where the optimal strategies are not pure, but mixed
strategies and for which A’s Pay off Matrix is
B
I II

y1 y2

I a11 a12
x1
A
II a21 a22
x2

The optimal mixed strategies of player A will be ( x1,x2) and that of player B will be ( y1, y2).
The values of x1,x2, y1, y3 are given by –

( ₂₂ ₂₁)
x1 =
( ₁₁ ₂₂) ( ₁₂ ₂₁)

( ₁₁ ₁₂)
x2 =
( ₁₁ ₂₂) ( ₁₂ ₂₁)

( ₂₂ ₁₂)
y1 =
( ₁₁ ₂₂) ( ₁₂ ₂₁)

( ₁₁ ₂₁)
y2 =
( ₁₁ ₂₂) ( ₁₂ ₂₁)

The value of the game is given by

( ₁₁ ₂₂ ₁₂ ₂₁)
v=
( ₁₁ ₂₂) ( ₁₂ ₂₁)

Q: What is Dominance Property? What are the rules of dominance?

Ans : When for each pure strategy of the opponent’s the payoff associated with One
strategy is no better than another strategy of the player then the first strategy is said to be
dominated by the second strategy and the player will never use that strategy. Since the
dominated pure strategy will never be a part of the optimal mixed strategy , it can be
omitted from the pay off Matrix. In other words If in a rectangular game one or more of the
pure strategies of a player are inferior to at least one of the remaining strategies ,the later is
said to dominate the other strategies and the player will never use the dominated
strategies . Hence these dominated strategies can be deleted from the pay off matrix and
thus the size of the pay off matrix can be reduced.

Rules of Dominance:

The following rules or properties of dominance are used to reduce the size of the pay – off
matrix.

1. If all the elements in a row ( ith row)of a pay off matrix are less than or equal to the
corresponding elements of another row ( jth row) then the ith row is said to
dominated by jth row and can be deleted from the pay off matrix as player A will
never use that dominated strategy.
2. If all the elements in a column ( pth column)of a pay off matrix are more than or
equal to the corresponding elements of another column ( qth column) then the pth
column is said to dominated by qth column and can be deleted from the pay off
matrix as player B will never use that dominated strategy.
3. If all the elements in a row ( ith row)of a pay off matrix are less than or equal to the
average of corresponding elements of two or more other rows then the ith row is
said to dominated by the other rows and can be deleted from the pay off matrix as
player A will never use that dominated strategy.
4. If all the elements in a column ( pth column)of a pay off matrix are more than or
equal to the average of corresponding elements of two or more other columns then
the pth column is said to dominated by the other columns and can be deleted from
the pay off matrix as player B will never use that dominated strategy.
By using the rules of dominance the size of the pay off matrix is reduced to
2X2 matrix, and then it is solved by the Optimal Mixed strategies.

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