Subsections
13 Inspection Model
The Nash and Walras models illustrate the competition in
economics. Both models define such prices and other
production parameters that satisfy the Nash equilibrium. However,
the market competition represents only a part of economical and
social activities. Another part is the inspection that one needs to provide tax collection, health and environment protection, e.t.c.. We consider a simple model that illustrates the competition
between inspector and violator.
1 Bimatrix Game (BG)
There are two players.
The payoff function of the first player is expressed by a matrix
where
denote moves (pure strategies) of the first player and
represent moves of the second one.
The payoff of the second player is
.
The utility functions
and
of the first and second
players are defined as expected values of
the payoffs
and
.
and
Here
and
are probabilities (mixed strategies) of moves
and
.
In the Bimatrix Game (BG)
.
In the Quadratic Bimatrix Game (QBG)
.
We shall consider mainly QBM because
they are simpler and represent many real games.
The QBG is Well-defined Quadratic Bimatrix Game (WBG)
if it cannot be reduced to a "lesser" game by elimination
of a raw or a column. Details are explained by examples.
This game is not well-defined
because it can be reduced to a lesser game by elimination
of the third column. Here is the reduced BG:
The reduced game is equivalent to the original one because the third
column of the matrix
is dominated by the first two columns and will not be used
by the second player.
However this reduced game can be reduced further
by eliminating the third raw, too:
This QBG is equivalent to the previous BG
because the third raw of the matrix
is dominated
by the first two.
That is convenient because solution of QBG is simpler.
Therefore we later call such games as Almost Quadratic
Bimatrix Games (ABG)
Here is another example of not well-defined game
In this example the third column of
is dominated by the first two
but the third raw of
is not. Thus the original quadratic
game is reduced to non-quadratic one by eliminating the third column
of
.
We denote such games as NBG
Now we shall describe two simple game models.
Consider the ranger-poacher game.
Denote by
the
inspection vector and by
the violation vector. Here
denotes the inspection
probability of
the area
.
means the violation probability in the area
. Denote by
the inspection
payoff function when the object
is inspected and
the object
is violated. Denote by
the violation payoff
function when the object
is inspected and the
object
is
violated. Functions
and
denote
the inspection and violation utility functions using
inspection and violation vectors
. These vectors define probabilities
of inspection and violation.
For example,
and
Here
is the probability of detecting the violation if it
happens in the area
. A number
is the probability of
completing the violation
if violation occurs in
the area
and
is the payoff of the completed violation in the area
.
Expression (13.5) means that if the violation is completed and
detected
then
the inspector premium is equal to the payoff of
violation
. Expression
(13.6) shows that if the violation is completed and detected, the
violator payoff is negative. The payoff is positive, if it is
completed and not detected.
The utility functions at given inspection and violation
vectors
and
and
Here
, so the inspection model is
a bimatrix game [Forgo et al., 1999].
The matrices (13.3) were defined by (13.5)(13.6) when
,
, and
.
Consider a security system protecting some object.
Denote by
,
the
protection vector and by
the violation vector. Here
denotes the
part of security funds designated to protect
the area
and
means the violation probability of the area
.
Denote by
the security
payoff function
when the area
is protected
and the area
is violated. Denote by
the violation payoff
function when the area
is protected and the area
is
violated. Utility functions
and
denote expected values
of security and violation payoff functions using
protection and violation vectors
. These vectors define the distribution
of protection funds and
violation probabilities.
Consider examples of simplified payoff functions.
We start by defining security payoff function
Here
is the expected reward of security team which protects the area
for preventing the violation and arresting the violators. Denote by
the probability of this event. A number
is the value of protected goods.
Denote by
the probability of
completing the violation
in
the area
. Suppose that the expected penalty for bad protection is defined as
the product
. The payoff function of security team protecting area
is zero, is no violation happens in this area
.
The violation payoff function
Here
is the penalty of
attempted
and detected violation where
is a large number.
The expected profit of successful violation of the protected area
is defined
as the product
and the expected profit of successful violation of the
unprotected area
is
.
Assume for simplicity that probability of protection
is equal to the part of
security funds
. This is the linearizion of the non-linear security function
.
Expression (13.9) means that if the violation is completed and
detected
in the area
then
the reward of security is equal to the value of the protected
goods
. Expression
(13.10) shows that if the violation is detected, the
violator penalty is a large number
.
The violetors payoff is equal to the value
of stolen goods if the crime in the area
is
successfully completed and not detected.
The utility functions at given inspection and violation
vectors
and
and
Here
.
The matrices (13.4) were defined by (13.9)(13.10) when
,
, and
It is well known [Forgo et al., 1999] that, in randomly generated
large bimatrix games, the proportion of games having
pure
strategy equilibriums is defined by the Poisson distribution
That means that roughly two-thirds of randomly generated
bimatrix games have at least one equilibrium point in pure
strategies.
This result holds for general randomly generated bimatrix games
.
1 Direct Search Algorithm (DS)
A simple way to obtain equilibrium in pure strategies is the
Direct Search Algorithm (DS). The set
of equilibrium points
in
pure strategies is the intersection of two sets
and
defined by the following conditions
Here
is a set of maximal elements at each column of
the matrix
.
is a set of maximal elements at
each row of the matrix
. If equilibrium exists and the intersection
is
empty, one needs mixed strategies to obtain the
equilibrium [Owen, 1968].
For a pair
to be an equilibrium point of the
bimatrix game
, it is necessary and sufficient
[Forgo et al., 1999] that there exist real numbers
such that
satisfies the system
Here
denotes the unit vector. The condition (13.18)
represents the bilinear problem because it involves products of
different variables. The solution of bilinear problems is
difficult. Therefore, specific algorithms are developed to search for mixed strategies of
the equilibrium.
Complementary pivoting is most frequently used [Lemke, 1965] one.
The Lemke-Howson algorithm finds a sample equilibrium point of bimatrix
game.
Later we shall investigate a simple "Irrelevant Fraud" (IF)
algorithm [Mockus, 2000] that
follows directly from the Nash equilibrium
conditions and
is implemented using standard software of linear problems.
The conditions when IF provides the Nash equilibrium will be defined. The software
for QBG will be described.
3 Irrelevant Fraud Algorithm (IF)
It follows from definition that the mixed strategies
and
satisfy equilibrium
if one cannot obtain greater profit by changing them.
From conditions
it follows that
because
and
The idea is to define such
mixed strategies that makes the partner fraud
irrelevant
.
Therefore, if the solution
of (13.19), (13.21, (13.23)
exists one
obtains the equilibrium just by setting
and
Expressions (13.19) - (13.23) include
inequalities. Therefore, the linear programming (LP) is a
convenient method of solution. In LP all the
variables are supposed to be nonnegative. Thus, variables
and
should be expressed as differences of two nonnegative
variables
and
. Then from expressions
(13.19) (13.21 (13.23) one obtains this LP problem
Here
.
Note, that in WBG the expressions (13.19) - (13.23) and
(13.24) - (13.28) satisfy
the equilibrium condition (13.18).
That remains true in the almost well-defined quadratic bimatrix games (ABG), too.
The IF conditions shows some interesting aspects of Nash equilibrium
of quadratic bimatrix games and can be implemented using
standard software for linear equations or linear programming
that is simple, efficient and widely available.
1 Example-1 ( explicit solution of poaching game)
Suppose that
.
Then from (13.5
)(13.6)
and
From here and the Irrelevant Fraud expressions(13.19)(13.23)
From here and (13.47)(13.48) follows
In the case
from (13.54)
From here
because
.
From (13.55)
From here
If
then, in the same way, one obtains
In the general case
where
means a product of all
except
.
Here the solutions
are positive
That shows, that the inspector problem (13.5)(13.6) can be
solved by the Irrelevant Fraud (IF) algorithm.
However, the solution of linear
inequalities (13.19) - (13.23) and the corresponding LP
(13.43) - (13.46) may not exist if the game is not WBG.
Then one searches for the equilibrium
using the Direct Search (DS) algorithm
(13.14). That complements the IF
algorithm (13.44) - (13.46) and
defines the equilibrium in pure strategies, if it exists.
4 Quadratic Strategy Elimination
Algorithm (QSE)
The quadratic strategy elimination algorithm includes both IF
and DS algorithms. In addition it eliminates
irrelevant raws and columns:
- obtain a solution
of linear equations (13.19) - (13.22), including
inequalities (13.23),
if a solution of the system is found, go to step 7
- search for equilibrium in pure strategies by the Direct Search algorithm (13.14)
if a solution is found, go to step 7
- obtain a solution
of linear equations (13.19) - (13.37), ignoring
inequalities (13.23)
- reduce the system of linear equations by
eliminating the column
and the raw
if at least one of the
corresponding variables is
negative
or/and
,
set to zero both the variables
and
- if a solution of the reduced system is found, go to step 7
- if the reduced system is not empty,
go to step 3
- estimate maximal wins
obtainable assuming
that partners keep solutions
- compare obtained wins
with the maximal ones
,
if
and
stop, and record the components
as equilibrium strategies,
othervise print the note that the equilibrium tests (13.69) and (13.70) failed.
QSE algorithm stops if DS or IF solution is obtained.
In the DS case an equilibrium is found by definition.
The same is true for IF solution of WBG.
That remains true for IF solutions of ABG because here original QBG
are reduced to lesser QBG.
Often the equilibrium is found
in NBG, too, but there is no guarantee. However QSE is fast and each solution is tested
by conditions (13.69) and (13.70). Therefore one may safely use QSE
for NBG as well.
2 Example-2 (numerical solution of poaching game)
Suppose that
,
and
.
Then from (13.5
)(13.6)
There is no IF solution.
Ignoring inequalities (13.53) one obtains
There is no DS solution, too.
Therefore, following the fourth step of QSE algorithm,
the game is reduced setting to zero variables
. Then
Here the IF solution
and the expected values
satisfy the equilibrium conditions as expected because this is ABG.
3 Example-3 (numerical solution of security game)
Suppose that
,
and
.
Then from (13.5
)(13.6)
There is no IF solution.
Ignoring inequalities (13.53) one obtains
There is no DS solution, too.
Therefore, following the fourth step of QSE algorithm,
the game is reduced setting to zero variables
. Then
Here the QSE solution
satisfy the equilibrium conditions.
Note that this game is NBG
so the solution is not guaranteed in general.
Therefore the statistical investigation of QSE algorithm in the NBG
games would be useful to estimate the expected failure numbers
when QSE is applied in NBG.
5 Preventing Corruption
The game will not be played by rules if the players may win more
by breaking them. Unauthorized deals (for example, bribes) are usual tools breaking the rules of non-zero-sum games where
.
An example of such deal is sharing the killed pray between the inspector and violator.
Values of the optimal deal
are defined by the Nash bargaining conditions [Owen, 1968]
The optimal deal
depends on the set of feasible deals
,
and on max-min values defining what the players will get if the deal fails
Here
is the maximal expected guarantee win of the first player,
is that of the second player.
In the deal the first player gets
, the second one obtains
.
The optimal deal
is uniquely defined by the following assumptions.
-
,
-
,
- if
and
,
then
,
- if
and
, then
,
- suppose that a set
is obtained from
by this transformation
,
then from
follows that
,
- if
,
and
,
then
.
If there is a pair
, such that
, then the optimal deal
where
If the sum of expected wins of both players is restricted by
then
and the optimal deal
An obvious way to prevent unauthorized deals
is by introducing penalties
that makes the deal
unprofitable
From (13.85)
Assuming, that the deal is arranged before the game
Here
is the maximal expected utility to be divided between the bargaining players.
1 Example-4 (corrupt inspector)
Suppose that in the case of inspector game (2.4) the sum
of expected wins is restricted by
.
Assume the max-min values to be equal to nearly-equilibrium
solution
.
Then, from (13.85) the optimal deal
.
From (13.87) expected penalties preventing the deal
3 Matrix Game
In some special cases, the Inspector problem is reduced to the
Matrix Game. It is well known [Owen, 1968] that equilibrium is
defined as two linear programming problems, if
. One reduces utilities (13.5) and (13.6) to the zero-sum case by
subtracting the penalty terms
and
from the inspectors utilities. In such a case
and
It follows form expressions (13.89) and (13.90) that
. Here one obtains the equilibrium by solving
two linear programming problems
[Owen, 1968]
and
The important feature the zero-sum games is the mini-max condition
An interactive QBG model is implemented using Java JDK1.2 [Vaisnora, 2001].
To start the program , one goes to one of web-sites
(see Section 4) and selects
"Discrete Optimization
Bimatrix Game Problem
Bimatrix Game, an example of bimatrix game optimization using LP,
Java 1.3 and DS and QSE algorithms"
The applet starts by clicking 'index.html'. That is not secure mode thus
all the data is introduced just by screen writing.
Starting by the command line:
'appletviewer -J-Djava.security.policy=java.policy index.html'
one works in secure mode and the data can be introduced by files,
for example:
'environment.txt'
#Wed Feb 18 18:01:29 EET 2004
V_EQUTION=-Pi*10+(1-Pi)*Qj*Gj;i\=j;\nQj*Gj;
U_EQUTION=Pi*Gi-(1-Pi)Gi*Qi;i\=j;\n0;\\
DATA_SAVE_URL=file\:/home/jonas/bimatrix/data1.txt
DATA_LOAD_URL=file\:/home/jonas/bimatrix/data-1.txt
VARIABLES=P G Q
RESULTS_SAVE_URL=
and
'data.txt'
P G Q
0.1 1.0 0.1
0.2 1.0 0.1
0.3 1.0 0.01
Figure 13.1 shows the input window i
2.4 and 2.4.
Figure 13.1:
The input window.
 |
Figure 13.2 shows the input window
defining the payoff functions of
security game (13.9) (13.10)
Figure 13.2:
Specification of payoff functions.
 |
Figure 13.3 shows the input window including data from
the security game examples examples
2.4 and 2.4.
Figure 13.3:
The input data of the original QBG.
 |
Figure 13.4 shows results obtained by solving IF
equations (13.19 - (13.22) ignoring constrains (13.23
Figure 13.4:
The IF results of the original QBG ignoring constrains.
 |
Figure 13.5 shows the input data for the reduced QBG
obtained by eliminating the last raw and column.
Figure 13.5:
The input data for the reduced QBG.
 |
Figure 13.6 shows the IF solution of the reduced QBG
Figure 13.6:
The IF solution of the reduced QBG.
 |
Figure 13.7 shows the snapshot of the calculations
Figure 13.7:
A snapshot of IF calculations.
 |
Data is recorded by adding forests and by entering their parameters
.
To prevent unauthorized deals one enters 'Fine' and 'Fine's probability' defining
the average penalties.
The optimization starts by clicking the button
.
The output window shows average wins in the form of
matrices u[i,j] and v[i,j].
The results of DSA are presented as pairs of
pure strategies, ignoring zero ones,
no DSA solution is found,
The results of IFA shows that there is no IFA solution,
since there are negative parameters, namely
.
Following QSE the third raw and the third column are eliminated and the QSE
solution of the reduced QBG
is found.
The first task is to update the experimental software providing the
exact implementation of the QSE algorithm.
The utility functions (13.5)(13.6) of both examples are selected
to make models easy understandable without any special knowledge.
That is important for studies.
Most real life applications are described by more complicated utility functions.
Therefore, the natural next step is to implement and to investigate these
functions.
Statistical estimation of failures applying QSE algorithm
for equilibrium search in the not well-defined cases could be useful
because QSE is simple and
the test by conditions (13.69) (13.70) is easy.
Optimization of resources
preventing unauthorized deals (see section 2.5).
is a challenging theoretical and practical problem,too.
jonas mockus
2004-03-20