Game theory links 9-15-09
I’ve been working on a few improvements and additions to the site (stay tuned), so I put this week’s game theory post on hold. Instead, I’m linking out to a few game theory articles. Check them out!
The music piracy game and DRM
Zeroth Code offers a nice game-theory argument on why music protection (DRM) does not solve the free-rider problem. The reason people pirate has to do with the fear of buying a bad product. The proposed solution is to offer a signal of quality by offering free samples of tracks which will benefit both artists and consumers.
How to use game theory to buy a car
Daniel Finkelstein writes about the game of buying a car and explains how the traditional setup gives all of the advantages to the dealer. The solution? Change the game and do something similar to a “fax attack”.
Why web apps are better than desktop apps
Patrick offers a detailed post on why web apps make more sense for developers: “In game theory terms, it strictly dominates the desktop version, when seen from the eyes of the developer at any rate.” Some of the reasons are web apps convert to sales at a higher rate, are more suitable for Adwords campaigns, and they are easier to support and customize.
The perverse voting system of the Oscars
The Oscar voting system is messed up, as you probably knew. The numbers guy Carl Bialik illustrates with the supporting math of instant-runoff voting. Perhaps this explains why The Dark Knight
was snubbed in many of last year’s more prominent nominations. For more, read about voting theory and its strategies and paradoxes.
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2 Responses to “Game theory links 9-15-09”
RE: alternate voting methods
I see nothing wrong with a second choice winning, which is the most likely “perverse” outcome with those sort of voting systems. The backwards sort of outcome the arguments against usually posit are only very likely the smaller the voting pool. So, maybe it does have an effect on things like the MLB MVP award with few voters, but got a general election, you will not see the sort of stark imbalances that are claimed.
I used to be interested in this stuff as a way to break up the two party system, but as the chances it will happen are about equal to zero, I stopped thinking about it. I believe at that time, I favored Borda, though looking at the choices now, I am not sure the effective difference between the voting preference systems. In the end, I want people to be able to lend honest support to 3rd party candidates without feeling like they are going to lose because the more preferential of the major two parties didn’t get their support.
Btw, you can emulate the plurality vote in preference vote, but not vice versa. This suggests you are getting more information from the voter about their preference.
Wrt the economics of voting, even in plurality there are lesser prizes to be won. In many jurisdictions, if a 3rd party gets more than a certain percent of the vote, they are automatically put on the next ballot and in some cases are eligible for public financing. So, the next time, instead of just fighting for life, the 3rd party gets to spend more of their time on their issues.
By anomdebus on Sep 22, 2009