What is a two person constant sum game?

$\begingroup$

I read that a two-person constant-sum game is a two-player game in which, for any choice of both players strategies, the row player's reward and the column player's reward add up to a constant value c. However I am not sure how to use this definition to determine whether a game is constant-sum. Can anyone explain please?

$\endgroup$ 2

1 Answer

$\begingroup$

Add the matrix payoff of player 1 and matrix payoff of player 2 if the resulting matrix has all entries equal then this is a constant sum game.

Example 1 (constant-sum game)

$$ \underbrace{\left(\begin{array}{cc}1 & 0.5 \\0 & 0.2\end{array}\right)}_{\text{payoffs of 1}}+\underbrace{\left(\begin{array}{cc}0 & 0.5 \\1 & 0.8\end{array}\right)}_{\text{payoffs of 2}}=\underbrace{\left(\begin{array}{cc}1 & 1 \\1 & 1\end{array}\right)}_{\text{sum of payoffs}} $$

Example 2 (not a constant-sum game)

$$ \underbrace{\left(\begin{array}{cc}1 & 0.5 \\0 & 0.2\end{array}\right)}_{\text{payoffs of 1}}+\underbrace{\left(\begin{array}{cc}1 & 0.5 \\1 & 0.8\end{array}\right)}_{\text{payoffs of 2}}=\underbrace{\left(\begin{array}{cc}2 & 1 \\1 & 1\end{array}\right)}_{\text{sum of payoffs}} $$

$\endgroup$

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Sign up using Google Sign up using Facebook Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

You Might Also Like