Assurance Game: Cooperate for Mutual Benefit - Essay Sample

Introduction

In simple terms, the Assurance game is usually a collaboration between parties, and without each other, no player can realize good results. If one of them bails out, the other participating party is guaranteed to bail out. However, if one cooperates, the other partner is likely to assist as well. In context to the Assurance game, each individual must decide whether to coordinate towards a more substantial benefit, which may only become real if the other partner agrees in the terms. The reason we choose this game is that it is relatively simple since there are only two symmetric strategies in play that inevitably result in two different Nash equilibrium, a risk dominant and a payoff-dominant. For the risk-dominant balance, a sure payoff is guaranteed regardless of the actions of each partner while in payoff-dominant equilibrium, if both participate, a payoff that dominates the risk-dominant is realized (Proceeding of the Nation Academy of Sciences of the United States of America).

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In this paper, the analysis of the framework of the Assurance game will be done through the evaluation of the television series Game of Thrones. In the movie, you either become a winner or loser, being a winner meant to walk with someone your trust. Having someone strong to support you is a definite win; hence, this is the reason alliances were significant to those who claimed the Iron Throne. Over the entire season, an agreement was held very seriously since some Houses decided to dedicate their loyalty to only those leaders who had the most power. There were initially nine Houses in the film in whereby all had a desire to get the Iron Throne (Pop Sugar). The game they used is the Assurance game, sometimes known as the Stag Hunt game. The game is a generic two by two-game, which meant the chances of success were high through alliance. The Assurance game played by the alliances had two Nash strategy Nash equilibria, I.e., Stag-stag, which was to them the dominant payoff equilibrium. This meant that the payoff for both the two allies was maximized. At the same time, Hare-Hare, which was the predominant risk equilibrium that could have to minimize the risk, the two allying parties will be exposed; hence, they preferred working together in the fight for the Iron Throne.

In the final fight towards the Iron Throne, Euron Greyjoy appeared in the capital, King's Landing, with a marriage proposal on his mind. His main desire was to ally with Cersei; however, his brother, who was also his boyfriend was a third-wheeling(Pop Sugar). The alliances in Westeros have been like a game of instrumental chairs. House Bolton agreed with the Starks, later Lannisters, and some smaller Houses in the North, which perished later. Also, the Tyrells formed an alliance with Renly Baratheon, and later shifted their allegiance to the Lannisters and then finally the High Sparrow, but unfortunately, all of them died. Therefore, when the Dragon queen arrived in Westeros, the former alliances were dramatically changed. But the now more significant threat, the white Walkers forced the remaining rivals to become one team in the fight for towards the common enemy. The trust between them was, however, limited since each promised to attack the other once the war was over. Therefore, the can in Westeros was like a stag hunt model that comprises of a variety of situations in which all members will benefit if they unite on the cooperative endeavor, but were they many fail if they do not join hands and work together.

This coordination game is critical to economists since strategy inevitably leads to the establishment of a desirable equilibrium will, at the same time, ensuring that the objectives of all the participants are aligned. In the framework of the Assurance game, the goal may be similar (stag, stag); however, the main concern behind this strategy is how particular one player will also play stag. From many studies, however, evidence has proven that the payoff-dominant equilibrium is not very important when the interactions are repeated. The coordination between humans is a fundamental observation since we usually for teams to achieve the desired goal that would be incredibly impossible to achieve if each individual worked alone. When these corporations are formed, humans can break all kinds of boundaries and limits.

Conclusion

The symmetry between the individuals in the agreement makes trust rational. They, in terms, face similar payoff matrix and following the same strategy in optimal to them all; hence, in this symmetrical model, the interest of there was aligned; therefore, there was no space for exploitation. Also, the stag hunt is a game where the bias between the groups in highly reduced. In context to real life, much attention has been diverted to the benefits of the application of this game in economics to the promotion of cooperation by collectively creating similar beliefs and knowledge. Institutions in an agreement can enjoy recursive trust throughout their operations on both the macro and microenvironments. According to Bernard Mandeville, cooperation in the active game due to Assurance relies on, but on a third strategic condition (105). This means that collaboration is usually a solid strategy in the elimination of unhealthy competition.

Works Cited

Proceeding of the Nation Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Responses to the Assurance game in monkeys, apes, and humans using equivalent procedures. 22 February 2011. https://www.pnas.org/content/108/8/3442. Accessed 22 April 2020

Popsugar. 5 Gifts Euron Might Bring Cersei on Game of Thrones, 22 July 2017. https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/photo-gallery/43753862/image/43754360/Dragon-Horn. Accessed on 22 April 2020.

Louis Schneider. Paradox and Society: The Work of Bernard Mandeville, https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=pdL47hWnKOoC&pg=PA105&dq=Assurance+game&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQ46DngffoAhVSqxoKHW2OBNwQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=Assurance%20game&f=false. Accessed on 22 April 2020