In this episode, Topi Miettinen shares his view and research on insights from Game Theory on international conflicts. We start discussing different examples of conflicts, e.g. complex negotiations within the EU and even war. Based on the examples Topi shares his research on the role of commitment to finding agreements. He also shares how his research extends from a bilateral negotiation (as in a war of two parties) situation to a multilateral situation (as in the EU).

Topi Miettinen is professor of economics at Hanken School of Economics and Helsinki Graduate School of Economics. His research focuses on behavioural and experimental economics, microeconomics, and game theory.

In this episode, we discuss with our guest J. McKenzie Alexander evolutionary game theory and its applications. We start discussing different models from evolutionary game theory starting with the local interaction model and then moving to the replicator model. Based on that we then turn to applications in social theory especially when discussing proto-moral behaviour.

J. McKenzie Alexander is Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics. His research explores the intersection of game theory, philosophy, and social theory.

J. McKenzie Alexander has put together simulations of the discussed models on his homepage. Also, he is publishing a new book titled ‘The Open Society as an Enemy’.

In this episode, our guest Raymond Fisman explains to us the persistent challenge of corruption and the surprising ways in which political polarization and so called “wedge issues” help to sustain it. He shares his insights into why anti-corruption reforms remain elusive despite widespread public demand for honest governance and the creative measures some leaders have taken to battle corruption.

Raymond Fisman is the Slater Family Professor in Behavioral Economics at Boston University. His research explores the complex ways in which corruption and other informal behaviors influence markets, governance, and economic development.

If you want to know more about Raymond’s research, you can check out his homepage.