This textbook presents all the fundamental concepts of Game Theory in accessible language and elucidates them through a wide variety of applications from current politics, business, and international relations. It does so through a wide miscellany of topics such as the serving patterns of Roger Federer, fate of the hapless spy, auction of cricketers for league games, and the all-important question - are our children really smarter than we are? This textbook goes beyond over-emphasizing technique and concentrates on the accessibility and applicability of the subject. Hence a wide variety of readers including school students, business leaders, and policy makers will get deep insights of the subject through the book. By specifically orienting the treatment of the subject towards these groups, this book makes the task of instructors that much easier.
"Game theory is an amazing tool to analyze decisions, and Rohit's book, 'A Case-Based Approach to Game Theory' which brings out this decision-making aspect so clearly, is a welcome addition indeed. By using diverse examples, Rohit allows the reader to understand the theory from multiple perspectives. In a typical game theory book it is easy to get into the nitty gritties of mathematics while losing sight of the big picture. By eschewing maths, and yet, bringing out all nuances, Rohit does a fantastic job!"
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Prof. Viswanath (Vishy) Pingali, Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, India
Rohit Prasad is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, India. He is a PhD in Economic Theory from SUNY Stony Brook, USA. After his PhD, he worked in the software industry in USA and India, including in senior management positions, before joining MDI Gurgaon. He has served on a Reserve Bank of India committee on the comprehensive review of workings of bankruptcy ecosystem; on a Government of India's Department of Telecommunications committee to make recommendations on spectrum allocation and pricing in India; and on two Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) expert panels to study the value of spectrum. His research interests include the economics of ICT, the markets for distressed debt, and sustainable development. His papers have been published at leading journals including Telecommunications Policy, BE Journal of Theoretical Economics, Applied Economics, and the Economic and Political Weekly. His column 'Game Sutra', a game theoretic exploration of world events, appeared every fortnight in the Mint for about three years. His book 'The Dynamics of Spectrum Management' co-authored with Dr. V. Sridhar was published in 2014. He is the author of two popular books on entrepreneurship -- 'Start-up Sutra' (2016) and 'Blood Red River' (2016) -- that examine the contours of development conflict in India. His most recent book 'The Last Dance of Rationality - Making Sense of an Unraveling World Order' was published in 2023. He is also the author of 'Game Sutra- Rescuing Game Theory from Game Theorists' (2019), a collection of essays published on current affairs from a game theoretic perspective. Of this book, Nobel Prize winner Prof. Robert Aumann wrote "Entertaining, informative and fresh, it is strongly recommended to anyone who is interested in discovering how human interaction works."
