| Subgame Perfect Equilibrium | |
|---|---|
| A solution concept in game theory | |
| Relationships | |
| Subset of | Nash equilibrium |
| Intersects with | Evolutionarily stable strategy |
| Significance | |
| Proposed by | Reinhard Selten |
| Used for | Extensive form games |
| Example | Ultimatum game |
In game theory, a subgame perfect equilibrium (or subgame perfect Nash equilibrium) is a refinement of a Nash equilibrium used in dynamic games. A strategy profile is a subgame perfect equilibrium if it represents a Nash equilibrium of every subgame of the original game. Informally, this means that if (1) the players played any smaller game that consisted of only one part of the larger game and (2) their behavior represents a Nash equilibrium of that smaller game, then their behavior is a subgame perfect equilibrium of the larger game. It is well-known that every finite extensive game has a subgame perfect equilibrium [1]:173.
A common method for determining subgame perfect equilibria in the case of a finite game is backward induction. Here one first considers the last actions of the game and determines which actions the final mover should take in each possible circumstance to maximize his/her utility. One then supposes that the last actor will do these actions, and considers the second to last actions, again choosing those that maximize that actor's utility. This process continues until one reaches the first move of the game. The strategies which remain are the set of all subgame perfect equilibria for finite-horizon extensive games of perfect information[1]:172. However, backward induction cannot be applied to games of imperfect or incomplete information because this entails cutting through non-singleton information sets.
The set of subgame perfect equilibria for a given game is always a subset of the set of Nash equilibria for that game. In some cases the sets can be identical.
The Ultimatum game provides an intuitive example of a game with fewer subgame perfect equilibria than Nash equilibria.
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The subgame-perfect Nash equilibrium is normally deduced by "backward induction" from the various ultimate outcomes of the game, eliminating branches which would involve any player making a move that is not credible (because it is not optimal) from that node. One game in which the backward induction solution is well known is tic-tac-toe, but in theory even Go has such an optimum strategy for all players.
The interesting aspect of the word "credible" in the preceding paragraph is that taken as a whole (disregarding the irreversibility of reaching sub-games) strategies exist which are superior to subgame perfect strategies, but which are not credible in the sense that a threat to carry them out will harm the player making the threat and prevent that combination of strategies. For instance in the game of "chicken" if one player has the option of ripping the steering wheel from their car they should always take it because it leads to a "sub game" in which their rational opponent is precluded from doing the same thing (and killing them both). The wheel-ripper will always win the game (making his opponent swerve away), and the opponent's threat to suicidally follow suit is not credible. In fact, having seen the first player discard any means of steering his car, the second player's rational options are reduced from "<Discard wheel>, <Keep wheel>" to "<Keep wheel>", leading to a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium.