Book
1944
Theory of Games and Economic Behavior
John von Neumann & Oskar Morgenstern
Founds game theory as a mathematical discipline, formalising expected-utility under risk and solving two-person zero-sum games with the minimax theorem before extending the framework to coalitional n-person games.
No free copy is linked yet — expect to buy or borrow this one elsewhere.
Groundwork for
Works in the library that name this one as a prerequisite.
- The Bargaining ProblemJohn F. Nash, 1950Derives a unique solution to two-person bargaining from a small set of axioms -- symmetry, efficiency and independence of irrelevant alternatives -- rather than from any specific negotiating procedure.
- Non-Cooperative GamesJohn F. Nash, 1951Proves, via Kakutani's fixed-point theorem, that every finite non-cooperative game has at least one equilibrium point in mixed strategies, and develops equilibrium as the general solution concept the 1950 note only sketched.
- Counterspeculation, Auctions, and Competitive Sealed TendersWilliam Vickrey, 1961Shows that in a sealed-bid second-price auction, bidding one's true valuation is a dominant strategy, founding modern auction theory and explaining why first-price rules invite costly counterspeculation.
Filed under Game Theory & Mechanism Design in Economics.