
Robust multiplicity with a grain of naiveté
Author(s) -
Heifetz Aviad,
Kets Willemien
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
theoretical economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.404
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1555-7561
pISSN - 1933-6837
DOI - 10.3982/te2098
Subject(s) - rationalizability , nash equilibrium , mathematical economics , computer science , class (philosophy) , best response , game theory , bayesian game , mathematical optimization , mathematics , repeated game , artificial intelligence
Rationalizability is a central concept in game theory. Since there may be many rationalizable strategies, applications commonly use refinements to obtain sharp predictions. In an important paper, Weinstein and Yildiz (2007) show that no refinement is robust to perturbations of high‐order beliefs. We show that robust refinements do exist if we relax the assumption that all players are unlimited in their reasoning ability. In particular, for a class of models, every strict Bayesian–Nash equilibrium is robust. In these environments, a researcher interested in making sharp predictions can use refinements to select among the strict equilibria of the game, and these predictions will be robust.