Reinhard Selten facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Reinhard Selten
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Reinhard Selten, 2001
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| Born |
Reinhard Justus Reginald Selten
5 October 1930 |
| Died | 23 August 2016 (aged 85) Poznań, Poland
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| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | Goethe University Frankfurt |
| Known for | Game theory |
| Awards | Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1994) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Economics |
| Institutions | University of Bonn |
| Doctoral advisor | Ewald Burger Wolfgang Franz |
| Doctoral students | Eric van Damme |
| Influenced | Axel Ockenfels Benny Moldovanu Abdolkarim Sadrieh |
Reinhard Justus Reginald Selten (October 5, 1930 – August 23, 2016) was an important German economist. An economist is someone who studies how people and societies make choices about money and resources.
Selten won the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. This is a very special award for people who make big discoveries in economics. He shared the prize with two other smart people, John Harsanyi and John Nash.
He was also known for his ideas about how people make decisions. He helped create new ways to study economics using experiments. Selten was a professor at the University of Bonn in Germany. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 85.
Contents
What is Game Theory?
Reinhard Selten was famous for his work in Game theory. Game theory is a way to understand how people or groups make decisions when their choices affect each other. Think of it like a game where players try to win by choosing the best moves.
Game theory helps us understand many real-life situations. For example, it can explain how companies compete or how countries make agreements. Selten's work helped make game theory more useful.
How Selten Improved Game Theory
Selten developed new ideas within game theory. He looked at how players might act in a game over time. He also studied what happens when players don't have perfect information.
His ideas helped explain why people sometimes make choices that seem surprising. They showed that even simple games can have complex outcomes.
Bounded Rationality and Experiments
Selten also explored ideas like bounded rationality. This idea suggests that people don't always make perfectly logical decisions. Instead, they make choices based on limited time, information, and thinking power.
It's like when you have to make a quick decision without knowing all the facts. Selten understood that real people often face these kinds of limits.
Starting Experimental Economics
Reinhard Selten was one of the first people to use experiments in economics. This field is called experimental economics. Instead of just using math, economists set up experiments to see how people actually behave.
For example, they might have people play a game in a lab. This helps them understand how people make choices in real situations. Selten's work showed that experiments could be a powerful tool for studying economics.
His Life and Legacy
Reinhard Selten was born in 1930 in a city called Breslau, which is now in Poland. He was partly Jewish. He studied at the Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany.
He taught at several universities during his career. He was a respected teacher and researcher. His ideas continue to influence economists today.
Selten's work changed how economists think about decision-making. He showed that understanding human behavior is key to understanding economics. His contributions earned him one of the highest honors in his field.
