Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    The Cooperative Solution of Stochastic Games
    08 Apr 2015Working Paper Summaries

    The Cooperative Solution of Stochastic Games

    by Elon Kohlberg and Abraham Neyman
    In its broadest sense a stochastic game is one in which, at each stage, the game is in one of a finite number of states. Each player chooses an action from a finite set of possible actions. The players' actions and the state jointly determine a payoff to each player and transition probabilities to the succeeding state. While the theory of stochastic games has been developed in many different directions, there has been practically no work on the interplay between stochastic games and cooperative game theory. In this paper, building on the work of leading theorists such as Nash, Harsanyi, and Shapley, the authors take an initial step in this direction, defining a cooperative solution for strategic games and proving an existence theorem.
    LinkedIn
    Email

    Author Abstract

    Building on the work of Nash, Harsanyi, and Shapley, we define a cooperative solution for strategic games that takes account of both the competitive and the cooperative aspects of such games. We prove existence in the general non-transferable utility (NTU) case and uniqueness in the transferable utility (TU) case. Our main result is an extension of the definition and the existence and uniqueness theorems to stochastic games-discounted or undiscounted.

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: March 2015
    • HBS Working Paper Number: 15-071
    • Faculty Unit(s): Strategy
      Trending
        • 08 Sep 2022
        • Book

        Gen Xers and Millennials, It’s Time To Lead. Are You Ready?

        • 28 Mar 2023
        • Research & Ideas

        The FDA’s Speedy Drug Approvals Are Safe: A Win-Win for Patients and Pharma Innovation

        • 25 Jan 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

        • 25 Feb 2019
        • Research & Ideas

        How Gender Stereotypes Kill a Woman’s Self-Confidence

        • 14 Mar 2023
        • In Practice

        What Does the Failure of Silicon Valley Bank Say About the State of Finance?

    Elon Kohlberg
    Elon Kohlberg
    Royal Little Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Find Related Articles
    • Economics
    • Strategy

    Sign up for our weekly newsletter

    Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College