Comments on: Hotelling’s Game, or Why Gas Stations Have Competitors Nearby http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/ Articles on game theory and personal finance Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:20:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Best of Mind Your Decisions 2011 - Mind Your Decisions http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/comment-page-1/#comment-13213 Best of Mind Your Decisions 2011 - Mind Your Decisions Thu, 29 Dec 2011 05:02:28 +0000 http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/#comment-13213 [...] Hotelling’s Game, or Why Gas Stations Have Competitors Nearby. This is one of my earlier game theory articles that has a lot of diagrams to illustrate the [...] [...] Hotelling’s Game, or Why Gas Stations Have Competitors Nearby. This is one of my earlier game theory articles that has a lot of diagrams to illustrate the [...]

]]> By: Presh Talwalkar http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/comment-page-1/#comment-12918 Presh Talwalkar Tue, 06 Dec 2011 06:05:53 +0000 http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/#comment-12918 Hi Guru, yes long time. I agree the equilibrium for N > 2 is different, and I also did a bit of throat clearing during the intro since gas stations are also concerned with practical issues like highway access. Still, the phenomenon of gas stations clustering is a good excuse to learn about Hotelling's game that shows why clustering happens even if it is not socially optimal. Hi Guru, yes long time. I agree the equilibrium for N > 2 is different, and I also did a bit of throat clearing during the intro since gas stations are also concerned with practical issues like highway access.

Still, the phenomenon of gas stations clustering is a good excuse to learn about Hotelling’s game that shows why clustering happens even if it is not socially optimal.

]]> By: Guru Sethupathy http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/comment-page-1/#comment-12824 Guru Sethupathy Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:10:12 +0000 http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/#comment-12824 Hey Presh. How are you? Long time. Just wanted to offer a quick comment. The beach location problem that you discuss is for N = 2. The predictions are very different for N = 3 or any N > 2. So while I think using the beach location model is good for explaining two-party political equilibrium, I dont think it explains why N > 2 gas stations are located next to each other. Thoughts? Thanks, Guru Hey Presh. How are you? Long time. Just wanted to offer a quick comment. The beach location problem that you discuss is for N = 2. The predictions are very different for N = 3 or any N > 2. So while I think using the beach location model is good for explaining two-party political equilibrium, I dont think it explains why N > 2 gas stations are located next to each other. Thoughts? Thanks, Guru

]]> By: Puzzle: who wins this dart game? - Mind Your Decisions http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/comment-page-1/#comment-12003 Puzzle: who wins this dart game? - Mind Your Decisions Mon, 10 Oct 2011 05:04:16 +0000 http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/#comment-12003 [...] dart game is also a two-dimensional version of Hotelling’s game, in which two hot dog vendors compete to locate closer to customers on a beach. In that game too it [...] [...] dart game is also a two-dimensional version of Hotelling’s game, in which two hot dog vendors compete to locate closer to customers on a beach. In that game too it [...]

]]> By: Cleopatra http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/comment-page-1/#comment-9180 Cleopatra Sun, 14 Aug 2011 06:10:31 +0000 http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2008/03/25/game-theory-tuesdays-hotelling%e2%80%99s-game-or-why-gas-stations-have-competitors-nearby/#comment-9180 I don't know if I agree that this theory extends to the news and political spectrum. As far as I've seen, people generally have a much wider variety of preferences for these things than for hotdogs. That's why there's such a wide variety of news available even outside the internet. Local newspapers cater to those nearby, Fox is widely acknowledged to have a right-wing slant and BBC news provides world news that may not be featured on other news sources. With politicians, it is particularly easy to distinguish between them based on their stance on different social issues. Therefore, news stories are diverse not only in the subject of the content, but also in the portrayal. However, I don't think it's a matter of these things being outlier exceptions- I think people more or less consciously choose differently based on preference for the product (news, politician). I don’t know if I agree that this theory extends to the news and political spectrum. As far as I’ve seen, people generally have a much wider variety of preferences for these things than for hotdogs.

That’s why there’s such a wide variety of news available even outside the internet. Local newspapers cater to those nearby, Fox is widely acknowledged to have a right-wing slant and BBC news provides world news that may not be featured on other news sources. With politicians, it is particularly easy to distinguish between them based on their stance on different social issues. Therefore, news stories are diverse not only in the subject of the content, but also in the portrayal.

However, I don’t think it’s a matter of these things being outlier exceptions- I think people more or less consciously choose differently based on preference for the product (news, politician).

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