Subgame Consistent Cooperative Solutions Research Articles

A cooperative differential game of transboundary industrial pollution between two regions

In recent years, the transboundary pollution problems in the world are becoming more and more serious. The diffusion of pollutants is common, and each region which suffers from the pollution wishes that the polluter in neighboring regions would either reduce polluting or compensate for the damages. This paper studies a cooperative differential game of transboundary industrial pollution between two asymmetric regions. There are two novel features in this paper. First, there is a Stackelberg game between the industrial firms and their local government while the governments can cooperate in pollution reduction. Second, transboundary pollution damages the regions in two ways: through a global accumulative pollutant and a regional non-accumulative pollutant. The paper characterizes the parameter spaces that governments in two neighboring regions can collaborate and gives the feedback Nash equilibrium strategies of governments and industrial firms. It is found that only when the governments get cooperation, the regional impact caused by the neighboring region pollution diffusion could be taken into consideration when the governments develop strategies. Additionally, a payment distribution mechanism is proposed and a subgame-consistent cooperative solution is provided. With such a payment distribution, both governments will receive a higher payoff in a cooperative solution than in a non-cooperative solution at any instant of time during the game.

Subgame consistent cooperative solution for NTU dynamic games via variable weights

In cooperative dynamic games a stringent condition–subgame consistency–is required for a dynamically stable solution. In particular, a cooperative solution is subgame consistent if the optimality principle agreed upon at the outset remains in effect in any subgame starting at a later stage with a state brought about by prior optimal behavior. Hence the players do not have incentives to deviate from the previously adopted optimal behavior. For the first time, subgame consistent solutions in cooperative dynamic games with non-transferable payoffs/utility (NTU) using a variable payoff weights scheme is analyzed. A solution mechanism for characterizing subgame consistent solutions is derived. The use of a variable payoff weights scheme allows the derivation of subgame consistent solutions under a wide range of optimality principles. The analysis widens the application of NTU cooperative dynamic games through the provision of a dynamically stable solution.

SUBGAME CONSISTENT COOPERATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR RANDOMLY FURCATING STOCHASTIC DYNAMIC GAMES WITH UNCERTAIN HORIZON

In cooperative stochastic dynamic games a stringent condition — subgame consistency — is required for a dynamically stable solution. A cooperative solution is subgame consistent if an extension of the solution policy to a situation with a later starting time and any feasible state brought about by prior optimal behavior would remain optimal. This paper considers subgame consistent cooperative solutions in randomly furcating stochastic discrete-time dynamic games with uncertain horizon. Analytically tractable payoff distribution procedures contingent upon specific random realizations of the state and payoff structure are derived. Novel forms of Bellman equations and Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equations for solving intertemporal problems with randomly furcating payoffs and random horizon are developed. This is the first time that subgame consistent solution for games with stochastic dynamics, uncertain future payoff structures and random horizon is obtained.

Subgame Consistent Cooperative Provision of Public Goods

The provision of public goods constitutes a classic case of market failure which calls for cooperative optimization. However, cooperation cannot be sustainable unless there is guarantee that the agreed-upon optimality principle can be maintained throughout the planning duration. This paper derives subgame consistent cooperative solutions for public goods provision by asymmetric agents with transferable payoffs in a stochastic differential game framework. In particular, subgame consistency ensures that as the game proceeds agents are guided by the same optimality principle, and hence they do not possess incentives to deviate from the previously adopted optimal behavior. A “payoff distribution procedure” leading to subgame-consistent solutions is derived and illustrative examples are presented. This is the first time that subgame consistent cooperative provision of public goods with transferable payoffs is analyzed.

Subgame-consistent cooperative solutions in randomly furcating stochastic dynamic games

In the analysis of cooperative stochastic dynamic games a stringent condition–subgame consistency–is required for a dynamically stable solution. A cooperative solution is subgame consistent if an extension of the solution policy to a subgame starting at a later time with a feasible state brought about by prior optimal behavior would remain optimal. This paper considers subgame consistent cooperative solutions in randomly furcating stochastic discrete-time dynamic games. Analytically tractable payoff distribution procedures contingent upon specific random realizations of the state and payoff structures are derived. In computer modeling and operations research discrete-time analysis often proved to be more applicable and compatible with actual data than continuous-time analysis. This is the first time that a subgame consistent solution for randomly-furcating stochastic dynamic games has been obtained. It widens the application of cooperative dynamic game theory to discrete-time problems where the evolution of the state and future payoff structures are not known with certainty.

SUBGAME CONSISTENT SOLUTION FOR COOPERATIVE STOCHASTIC DYNAMIC GAMES WITH RANDOM HORIZON

In cooperative stochastic dynamic games a stringent condition — that of subgame consistency — is required for a dynamically stable cooperative solution. In particular, a cooperative solution is subgame consistent if an extension of the solution policy to a subgame starting at a later time with a state brought about by prior optimal behavior would remain optimal. This paper extends subgame consistent solutions to cooperative stochastic dynamic (discrete-time) games with random horizon. In the analysis new forms of the stochastic Bellman equation and the stochastic Isaacs–Bellman equation in discrete time are derived. Subgame consistent cooperative solutions are obtained for stochastic dynamic games. Analytically tractable payoff distribution mechanisms which lead to the realization of these solutions are developed. This is the first time that subgame consistent solutions for cooperative stochastic dynamic games with random horizon are presented.

Subgame Consistent Cooperative Solution of Dynamic Games with Random Horizon

In cooperative dynamic games, a stringent condition—that of subgame consistency—is required for a dynamically stable cooperative solution. In particular, under a subgame-consistent cooperative solution an extension of the solution policy to a subgame starting at a later time with a state brought about by prior optimal behavior will remain optimal. This paper extends subgame-consistent solutions to dynamic (discrete-time) cooperative games with random horizon. In the analysis, new forms of the Bellman equation and the Isaacs–Bellman equation in discrete-time are derived. Subgame-consistent cooperative solutions are obtained for this class of dynamic games. Analytically tractable payoff distribution mechanisms, which lead to the realization of these solutions, are developed. This is the first time that subgame-consistent solutions for cooperative dynamic games with random horizon are presented.

A cooperative stochastic differential game of transboundary industrial pollution

Though cooperation in environmental control holds out the best promise of effective actions, limited success has been observed because existing multinational joint initiatives fail to satisfy the property of subgame consistency. A cooperative solution is subgame consistent if the solution optimality principle is maintained in any subgame which starts at a later time with any feasible state brought about by prior optimal behaviors. This paper presents a cooperative stochastic differential game of transboundary industrial pollution with two novel features. The first feature is that industrial production creates short-term local impacts and long-term global impacts on the environment. Secondly, a subgame consistent cooperative solution is derived in this stochastic differential game together with a payment distribution mechanism that supports the subgame consistent solution. This is the first time that pollution management is analyzed in a cooperative stochastic differential game framework under these novel features.

Dynamically Consistent Cooperative Solution in a Differential Game of Transboundary Industrial Pollution

This paper presents a cooperative differential game of transboundary industrial pollution. A noted feature of the game model is that the industrial sectors remain competitive among themselves while the governments cooperate in pollution abatement. It is the first time that time consistent solutions are derived in a cooperative differential game on pollution control with industries and governments being separate entities. A stochastic version of the model is presented and a subgame-consistent cooperative solution is provided. This is the first study of pollution management in a stochastic differential game framework.

Subgame-consistent cooperative solutions in randomly furcating stochastic differential games

The paradigm of randomly-furcating stochastic differential games incorporates additional stochastic elements via randomly branching payoffs in stochastic differential games. This paper considers dynamically stable cooperative solutions in randomly furcating stochastic differential games. Analytically tractable payoff distribution procedures contingent upon specific random realizations of the state and payoff structure are derived. This new approach widens the application of cooperative differential game theory to problems where the evolution of the state and future environments are not known with certainty. Important cases abound in regional economic cooperation, corporate joint ventures and environmental control. An illustration in cooperative resource extraction is presented.

Subgame Consistent Cooperative Solutions in Stochastic Differential Games

Subgame consistency is a fundamental element in the solution of cooperative stochastic differential games. In particular, it ensures that: (i) the extension of the solution policy to a later starting time and to any possible state brought about by the prior optimal behavior of the players would remain optimal; (ii) all players do not have incentive to deviate from the initial plan. In this paper, we develop a mechanism for the derivation of the payoff distribution procedures of subgame consistent solutions in stochastic differential games with transferable payoffs. The payoff distribution procedure of the subgame consistent solution can be identified analytically under different optimality principles. Demonstration of the use of the technique for specific optimality principles is shown with an explicitly solvable game. For the first time, analytically tractable solutions of cooperative stochastic differential games with subgame consistency are derived.