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Game Theory and Biology

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Abstract

Darwinian evolutionary dynamics and learning dynamics provide the foundation for game theory in biology. The theory is used to analyse interactions between individuals. Animal fighting behaviour, cooperative interactions and signalling interactions are examples of important areas of application. The payoffs to strategies in biological games represent Darwinian fitness, viz. survival and reproductive success. The strategies can be behaviour patterns, but also choices of phenotypic properties such as becoming a male or a female. The evolutionary analysis of allocation to male and female function is one of the most successful applications of game theory in biology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. http://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5

    Olof Leimar

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  1. Olof Leimar
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Leimar, O. (2018). Game Theory and Biology. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2510

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