The N-person prisoner's dilemma: some theory and a computer-oriented approach.

Abstract

The two-person, two-strategy prisoner's dilemma is, by now, well known. The purpose of the research reported here is to start an investigation of the more interesting multiple-person, multiple-strategy analogue of the prisoner's dilemma. The multiple-person, two-strategy game is the subject of this study. Four interpretations of the game are possible. Each of these is presented and one is selected for further study. The rationale for a combined laboratory-computer approach is given, some decision-making models for the game are constructed, and the results of the simulations of the models are reported.