Game Changer - the game theory podcast

In this episode, Vitali Gretschko sheds some light on a fundamental game theoretic concept: Commitment. He explains why commitment is a crucial prerequisite of auctions and introduces different ways of generating commitment. We also explore how commitment is linked to the concept of information and discuss auction concepts which make it less likely for the auctioneer to break their commitment afterwards. Vitali Gretschko is Professor of Market Design at the University of Mannheim and head of the ZEW Research Department "Market Design". In the interview, Vitali mentions papers explaining how to use cryptography to create commitment in mechanism designs. You can find them here and here.

From selling on eBay over Google advertisements to buying a house, auctions are all around us! But what makes it so difficult to find the right bidding strategy? In this episode Bernhard Kasberger sheds some light on what a so called first price auction is, why it is challenging to "bid correctly" and what the recipe for the optimal bid strategy under maximum uncertainty is in theory. He explains how his findings apply to the real life and which additional related topics he is currently working on. Bernhard Kasberger currently works as a Postdoc at the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. His research is focused on auctions, market design, industrial organization and game theory. The research Bernhard presents in the interview is detailed in this paper.

In this episode Gernot Wagner explains the concept of Geoengineering and its potential role in preventing climate change. He analyses the implications of Geoengineering from a game theoretic perspective and shows the connection to the game theoretic concept of "moral hazard". He also gives some advice on how we can all profit from the (potential) advantages of Geoengineering (and other new technologies), without falling into the "moral hazard trap". Gernot Wagner is climate economist at Columbia Business School where his research is focused on climate risks and climate policy. He is also the author of many books about climate change and what to do against it, with "Geoengineering: the Gamble" being his latest one.

To share or not to share. Credit, incentives and competition among researchers | with Remco Heesen In this episode Remco Heesen shares his insights on the trade-offs researchers face when deciding whether to share intermediate results with fellow researchers. He explains how incentive structures in research lead to a suboptimal outcome and gives historic examples of prominent researchers who have been subject to these incentives. Remco then discusses possible measures that can be taken to encourage researchers to share intermediate results with their colleagues. Remco Heesen currently works as a researcher and senior lecturer at the University of Western Australia and the University of Groningen. Starting September this year he will take on a position as Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method. His research is focused on the philosophy of science, and social and formal epistemology. In the interview, Remco mentions his PhD supervisor Kevin Zollman, who also was a guest on our show. You can listen to his episode on evolutionary game theory here.

In this episode, we discuss with Paul Papayoanou his real life experience as a consultant applying Game Theory. Paul has worked on over 150 engagements using his expertise. In our discussion we especially focus on Paul's experience in consulting bidders participating in auctions. Paul shares how he prepares his clients when they enter an auction and what makes a good bidding strategy. Paul Papayoanou is a consultant for all things Game Theory and author of the book "Game Theory for Business: A Primer in Strategic Gaming". He has worked as a professor at the University of California San Diego and at Harvard University, and currently is a Senior Advisor with Decision Frameworks, a boutique consultancy based in Houston, Texas that serves clients worldwide.

To celebrate 50 episodes of Game Changer, we take a look behind the scenes. The hosts Simon and Florian take the role of interviewees and answer Miriam's questions on their motivation and goals for the game changer podcast and how the episodes are prepared and recorded. We would like to thank all our listeners for sticking with us for 50 episodes and we are looking forward to the next 50 episodes and interesting insights into applications of Game Theory in business and everyday life!

In this episode, we focus on 'decision theory' and discuss with Shachar its connection to Game Theory. Shachar shares the three key trade-offs relevant for taking a decision. We also discuss the 'dictator game' and how Shachar applied a modified version of the dictator game to study preferences of decision makers in real life. Shachar Kariv is Benjamin N. Ward Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. His current research interests are focused on economic/decision theory and on social networks, social learning, personal and social preferences.

In this episode we talk to Ben Lyttleton about a particular topic in football: how to score the perfect penalty. Ben is an expert on penalties and has gathered a lot of insights on the 'perfect penalty' in his book Twelve Yards: The Art & Psychology of the Perfect Penalty. Ben shares that penalties are much more complex than initial Game Theory models would suggest. For a full understanding of penalties gathering the right data and understanding the psychology of the penalties are both critical elements. During our discussion Ben shares many anecdotes from his work with football clubs and teams. Ben Lyttleton is a British football journalist and author of news articles and books. Our discussion is based on Ben's book "Twelve Yards: The Art & Psychology of the Perfect Penalty".

In this episode, Karolin Kirschenmann explains why this year's Nobel Prize in economics was given to Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig. We discuss their research on the role of banks in the economy and the models developed by the researchers. We deep-dive into the modelling of bank-runs and their relationship to Game Theory. Karolin Kirschenmann is deputy head of ZEW's Research Unit "Pensions and Sustainable Financial Markets". Her research focuses on the areas of banking and (global) financial intermediation.

In this episode, Scott Kominers introduces us to the exciting world of NFTs. We learn about their fascinating properties and their potential for creating new markets or reshaping existing ones. Scott also gives a few practical examples of how NFTs can be used, both in the digital and the real world. Scott also gave us the idea of creating our very own NFT: We used the Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) to create a "digital badge or collectible" using blockchain technology. POAPs are typically used to digitally prove attendance of an event. In our case, we use them as a fun way to celebrate this Game Changer episode with our listeners. You can claim your very own POAP by contacting us via email at gamechanger@tws-partners.com. Scott Duke Kominers is Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School, a Faculty Affiliate of the Harvard Department of Economics, and a Research Partner at a16z crypto. He also advises a number of companies on marketplace and incentive design, especially in the world of crypto and web3. He is co-authoring a book about NFTs.