|
The Stag Hunt is a game first discussed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau described a situation where two individuals go out on a hunt. Each
can individually choose to hunt a stag or hunt a hare. If an individual hunts stag, she must have the cooperation of her partner. An individual can get a hare by
herself, but a hare is worth less than a stag.
An example of the payoff matrix for the Stag Hunt is as follows:
|
Stag |
Hare |
| Stag |
4, 4 |
0, 3 |
| Hare |
3, 0 |
3, 3 |
A Stag Hunt has also been considered by David Hume in his discussions of the
social contract.
Formal definition
Formally, a Stag Hunt is a game with two Nash equilibria one that
is risk dominant another that is
payoff dominant. The
following matrix illustrates a Stag hunt, where a>b>=d>c.
|
Stag |
Hare |
| Stag |
a, a |
c, b |
| Hare |
b, c |
d, d |
The Stag Hunt and social cooperation
Although most authors focus on the Prisoner's Dilemma as
the game that best represents the problem of social cooperation, some authors
believe that the Stag Hunt represents an equally (or more) interesting context in which to study cooperation and its problems (for an overview see Skyrms 2004).
References
Skyrms, Brian. (2004) The Stag Hunt and Evolution of Social Structure Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
|
