Exam 9: Games and Strategic Behavior

P-TV and QRS-TV are trying to decide whether to air a sitcom or a reality show in a given time slot. Viewers like both sitcoms and reality shows, but sitcoms are more expensive to produce than reality shows since real actors need to be hired. QRS-TV makes its decision first, and then P-TV observes that choice before making its decision. Both stations know all of the information in the decision tree below. Given the information in this decision tree, if QRS-TV announces that it will air a reality show, it can expect to:

Quick Buck and Pushy Sales produce and sell identical products and face zero marginal and average cost. Below is the market demand curve for their product. If Quick Buck and Pushy Sales decide to collude and work together as a monopolist with each firm producing half the quantity demanded by the market at the monopoly price, then what will be Quick Buck's economic profit?

Miniville is an isolated town located on the southern shore of Lake Condescending, a very large lake. The western edge of Miniville is adjacent to impassable mountains and there are no towns or businesses for many miles to the east. The 300 residents of Miniville are evenly distributed along 3 miles of shoreline on the lake, east of the mountains. Lake Shore Drive, the only street in town, provides access to Miniville's homes and businesses. All residents live between the lake and the street; businesses locate on the other side of the street. Lake Shore Drive is 3 miles long, and the points labeled A, B, and C are 1, 2, and 3 miles from the western end of Lake Shore Drive, respectively. All residents of Miniville shop at the store located closest to their homes.   If one store is located at A and the other store is located at C:

Hotelling's model has been used to describe differentiation in the political "market." Suppose that 100 voters are evenly distributed between the extreme left and the extreme right on the political spectrum, and that all voters vote, and they always vote for the candidate closest to them on this spectrum. The numbers on this spectrum represent the number of voters lying to the left of the number. So, at the midpoint, fifty voters lie to the left and fifty to the right. Suppose Candidate X is running against Candidate Y. If Candidate Z enters the race:

P-TV and QRS-TV are trying to decide whether to air a sitcom or a reality show in a given time slot. Viewers like both sitcoms and reality shows, but sitcoms are more expensive to produce than reality shows since real actors need to be hired. QRS-TV makes its decision first, and then P-TV observes that choice before making its decision. Both stations know all of the information in the decision tree below. Suppose QRS-TV enters into an agreement with P-TV that gives QRS-TV the exclusive right to air a reality show during this time slot. QRS-TV would be willing to pay P-TV ________ in order to persuade P-TV to enter into this agreement.

Lee and Cody are playing a game in which Lee has the first move at A in the decision tree shown below. Once Lee has chosen either aggression or cooperation, Cody, who can see what Lee has chosen, must choose either aggression or cooperation at B or C. Both players know the payoffs at the end of each branch. Suppose Lee and Cody enter into a binding non-aggression agreement. As part of that agreement, they negotiate a fine that Cody would have to pay to Lee if Cody chooses aggression after Lee chooses cooperation. For the fine to be effective, it would have to be:

Miniville is an isolated town located on the southern shore of Lake Condescending, a very large lake. The western edge of Miniville is adjacent to impassable mountains and there are no towns or businesses for many miles to the east. The 300 residents of Miniville are evenly distributed along 3 miles of shoreline on the lake, east of the mountains. Lake Shore Drive, the only street in town, provides access to Miniville's homes and businesses. All residents live between the lake and the street; businesses locate on the other side of the street. Lake Shore Drive is 3 miles long, and the points labeled A, B, and C are 1, 2, and 3 miles from the western end of Lake Shore Drive, respectively. All residents of Miniville shop at the store located closest to their homes.     ________ residents of Miniville live west of point B, and ________ live east of point A.

Cartel agreements are difficult to sustain because:

The last time you went on a road trip, you noticed that there were several fast food outlets clustered near some freeway exits, but none at the others. Now that you are familiar with Hotelling's model, you know that the reason for this is:

Mexico and the members of OPEC produce crude oil. Realizing that it would be in their best interests to form an agreement on production goals, a meeting is arranged and an informal, verbal agreement is reached. If both Mexico and OPEC abide by the agreement, then OPEC's profit will be $200 million and Mexico's profit will be $100 million. If both Mexico and OPEC cheat on the agreement, then OPEC's profit will be $175 million and Mexico's profit will be $80 million. If only OPEC cheats, then OPEC's profit will be $185 million, and Mexico's profit will be $60 million. If only Mexico cheats, then Mexico's profit will be $110 million, and OPEC's profit will be $150 million. In the Nash equilibrium of this game:

A game involving two players with two possible strategies is a prisoner's dilemma if each player has a dominant strategy and:

Refer to the figure below. If Cory chooses A, then Jess's best response is:   

Mexico and the members of OPEC produce crude oil. Realizing that it would be in their best interests to form an agreement on production goals, a meeting is arranged and an informal, verbal agreement is reached. If both Mexico and OPEC abide by the agreement, then OPEC's profit will be $200 million and Mexico's profit will be $100 million. If both Mexico and OPEC cheat on the agreement, then OPEC's profit will be $175 million and Mexico's profit will be $80 million. If only OPEC cheats, then OPEC's profit will be $185 million, and Mexico's profit will be $60 million. If only Mexico cheats, then Mexico's profit will be $110 million, and OPEC's profit will be $150 million. To Mexico, the payoff to cheating is either:

Suppose two companies, Macrosoft and Apricot, are considering whether to develop a new product, a touch-screen t-shirt. The payoffs to each of developing a touch-screen t-shirt depend upon the actions of the other, as shown in the payoff matrix below (the payoffs are given in millions of dollars).    If Macrosoft and Apricot make their decision at the same time, then which of the following statements is correct?

The payoff matrix below shows the payoffs (in millions of dollars)for two firms, A and B, for two different strategies, investing in new capital or not investing in new capital.   An industry spy comes to firm B and claims to know what firm A has decided. Given that each firm already knows the payoff matrix, how much would this information be worth to firm B?

The payoff matrix below shows the daily profit for two firms, Row Restaurant and Column Cafe, for two different strategies, publishing coupons in the student paper and not publishing coupons in the student paper.   The payoffs of this game are such that:

Joe is the owner of the 7-11 Mini Mart, Sam is the owner of the SuperAmerica Mini Mart, and together they are the only two gas stations in town. Currently, they both charge $3 per gallon, and each earns a profit of $1,000. If Joe cuts his price to $2.90 and Sam continues to charge $3, then Joe's profit will be $1,350, and Sam's profit will be $500. Similarly, if Sam cuts his price to $2.90 and Joe continues to charge $3, then Sam's profit will be $1,350, and Joe's profit will be $500. If Sam and Joe both cut their price to $2.90, then they will each earn a profit of $900. For Sam, cutting his price to $2.90 per gallon is a:

A dominant strategy exists if:

Refer to the figure below. Player B can infer that Player A will:

Emotions like guilt and sympathy: