Strategic Uncertainty in Markets for Nonrenewable Resources: A Level-k Approach

Existing models of nonrenewable resources assume that sophisticated agents compete with other sophisticated agents. This study instead uses a level-k approach to examine cases where the focal agent is uncertain about the strategy of his opponent or predicts that the opponent will act in a nonsophist...

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Main Authors: Ingmar Vierhaus, Roel van Veldhuizen, Armin Fügenschuh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2017-01-01
Series:Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/2768045
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author Ingmar Vierhaus
Roel van Veldhuizen
Armin Fügenschuh
author_facet Ingmar Vierhaus
Roel van Veldhuizen
Armin Fügenschuh
author_sort Ingmar Vierhaus
collection DOAJ
description Existing models of nonrenewable resources assume that sophisticated agents compete with other sophisticated agents. This study instead uses a level-k approach to examine cases where the focal agent is uncertain about the strategy of his opponent or predicts that the opponent will act in a nonsophisticated manner. Level-0 players are randomized uniformly across all possible actions, and level-k players best respond to the action of player k-1. We study a dynamic nonrenewable resource game with a large number of actions. We are able to solve for the level-1 strategy by reducing the averaging problem to an optimization problem against a single action. We show that lower levels of strategic reasoning are close to the Walras and collusive benchmark, whereas higher level strategies converge to the Nash-Hotelling equilibrium. These results are then fitted to experimental data, suggesting that the level of sophistication of participants increased over the course of the experiment.
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publishDate 2017-01-01
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spelling doaj-art-6bde7121e6134fcfaf43380f0d293dde2025-02-03T01:27:45ZengWileyDiscrete Dynamics in Nature and Society1026-02261607-887X2017-01-01201710.1155/2017/27680452768045Strategic Uncertainty in Markets for Nonrenewable Resources: A Level-k ApproachIngmar Vierhaus0Roel van Veldhuizen1Armin Fügenschuh2Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg, GermanyWZB Berlin Social Science Center, Berlin, GermanyHelmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg, GermanyExisting models of nonrenewable resources assume that sophisticated agents compete with other sophisticated agents. This study instead uses a level-k approach to examine cases where the focal agent is uncertain about the strategy of his opponent or predicts that the opponent will act in a nonsophisticated manner. Level-0 players are randomized uniformly across all possible actions, and level-k players best respond to the action of player k-1. We study a dynamic nonrenewable resource game with a large number of actions. We are able to solve for the level-1 strategy by reducing the averaging problem to an optimization problem against a single action. We show that lower levels of strategic reasoning are close to the Walras and collusive benchmark, whereas higher level strategies converge to the Nash-Hotelling equilibrium. These results are then fitted to experimental data, suggesting that the level of sophistication of participants increased over the course of the experiment.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/2768045
spellingShingle Ingmar Vierhaus
Roel van Veldhuizen
Armin Fügenschuh
Strategic Uncertainty in Markets for Nonrenewable Resources: A Level-k Approach
Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society
title Strategic Uncertainty in Markets for Nonrenewable Resources: A Level-k Approach
title_full Strategic Uncertainty in Markets for Nonrenewable Resources: A Level-k Approach
title_fullStr Strategic Uncertainty in Markets for Nonrenewable Resources: A Level-k Approach
title_full_unstemmed Strategic Uncertainty in Markets for Nonrenewable Resources: A Level-k Approach
title_short Strategic Uncertainty in Markets for Nonrenewable Resources: A Level-k Approach
title_sort strategic uncertainty in markets for nonrenewable resources a level k approach
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/2768045
work_keys_str_mv AT ingmarvierhaus strategicuncertaintyinmarketsfornonrenewableresourcesalevelkapproach
AT roelvanveldhuizen strategicuncertaintyinmarketsfornonrenewableresourcesalevelkapproach
AT arminfugenschuh strategicuncertaintyinmarketsfornonrenewableresourcesalevelkapproach