Question

Suppose Eric and Ginny are playing a game in which both must simultaneously choose the action Left or Right. The payoff matrix that follows shows the payoff each person will earn as a function of both of their choices. For example, the lower-right cell shows that if Eric chooses Right and Ginny chooses Right, Eric will receive a payoff of 9 and Ginny will receive a payoff of 5.
Ginny Left Right Eric Left 6, 6 8, 5 Right 3, 6 9, 5
The only dominant strategy in this game is for to _____. The outcome reflecting the unique Nash equilibrium in this game is as follows:_____.
Eric ______ and Ginny _______

Answer 1

Answer:

The only dominant strategy in this game is for Ginny to choose Left.

The outcome reflecting the unique Nash equilibrium in this game is as follows:

Eric chooses Left and Ginny chooses Left.

Explanation:

The following payoff matrix is given in the question:

                        Ginny

                  Left          Right

Eric Left     6, 6            8, 5

      Right   3, 6            9, 5

The explanation of the answer is now given as follows:

A dominant strategy can be described as a strategy that makes a player in a game better off no matter the choice of strategy his opponent.

Looking at this game, when Eric plays Left, Ginny will also play Left because 6 > 5. When Eric plays Right, Ginny will still play Left because 6 > 5. This is an indication that Ginny will always play Left no matter what Eric plays. Therefore, the dominant strategy for Ginny is Left.

On the other hand, when Ginny plays Left, Eric will also play Left because 6 > 3. And when Ginny plays Right, Eric will also choose Right because 9 > 8. This implies that Eric does not have any particular strategy that make him better off. Therefore, Eric does NOT have a dominant strategy.

Based on the analysis above, we have:

The only dominant strategy in this game is for Ginny to choose Left.

The outcome reflecting the unique Nash equilibrium in this game is as follows:

Eric chooses Left and Ginny chooses Left.