In: Economics
From the following payoff matrix, where the payoffs are the profits or losses of the two firms, determine (a) whether Firm A has a dominant strategy, (b) whether Firm B has a dominant strategy, and (c) the optimal strategy for each firm. Explain. Firm B Low price High price Firm A Low price (1, 1) (3, -2) High price (-2, 3) (2, 2) Prisoner’s Dilemma
Solution-
A. whether Firm A has a dominant strategy
No, doesn't have a dominant strategy. When firm B charges a low price, firm A will earn a profit of 1 when it also charges a low price and a profit of ?1 (i.e., a loss of 1) when it charges a high price. When firm B charges a high price, firm A earns a profit of 3 when it charges a low price and a profit of 4 when it charges a high price. Therefore, firm A does not have a dominant strategy.
B. Whether Firm B has a dominant strategy
Has a dominant strategy of low price When firm A charges a low price, firm B earns a profit of 1 when it also charges a low price and a profit of ?1 when it charges a high price. Similarly, when firm A charges a high price, firm B earns a profit of 3 when it charges a low price and a profit of 2 when it charges a high price. Therefore, charging a low price is the dominant strategy for firm B.
C. The optimal strategy for each firm.
The optimal strategy for firm B is its dominant strategy of charging a low price. The optimal strategy for firm A is a low price, given that firm B will charge a low price.
Prisoner’s Dilemma
The firm's face prisoner's dilemna because the option that creates the best profit payoff is for both firms to choose a high price strategy. However, neither firm can trust the other firm to charge a high price, so they choose their best or dominant strategy instead. Each firm could do better (earn higher profitts) if they both choose high price.