Equilibrium selection

Equilibrium selection is a concept from game theory which seeks to address reasons for players of a game to select a certain equilibrium over another. The concept is especially relevant in evolutionary game theory, where the different methods of equilibrium selection respond to different ideas of what equilibria will be stable and persistent for one player to play even in the face of deviations (and mutations) of the other players. This is important because there are various equilibrium concepts, and for many particular concepts, such as the Nash equilibrium, many games have multiple equilibria.

Examples of equilibrium selection concepts

• Risk dominance
• Payoff dominance
• 1/2 dominance

References

• Harsany, John C. and Selten, Reinhard, A General Theory of Equilibrium Selection in Games, MIT Press (1988)