Air Pollution and the Social Interactions and Strategic Interdependence of the Players

Summary:
You will write a short essay (10% of your course grade) of maximum 1.500 words where you will apply the tools we have been working on, and making use of the readings so far, to explore a particular environmental problem you would like to see changing and that gives you hope.
Imagine an environmental outcome that affects society as a whole. For this essay you will explore how social interactions and strategic interdependence among possible players in your particular situation could turn into an improvement of well-being of society but will require to work out the incentives in favor and against two players to produce this desirable outcome you have hope for.
In this essay you will identify the components of the game (players, strategies, payoffs, information, as described in chapter 4 and 5 of CORE) and you will develop arguments for plausible payoffs structures in the matrix of the game to help you analyze your problem situation. A few key points: Not all games are prisoners' dilemmas or tragedies of the commons. There are other possible situations. Your payoffs will be hypothetical and they can be numerical or ordinal (See example at the end of chapter 4). Just make sure they make sense in the context in which you are working. Use the tools of analysis to explore your central question for your paper idea. You should include in your essay a matrix with a narrative (Example: Figure 4.1 in CORE) and a payoffs structure (Example Fig. 4.2a in CORE) and a justification of why these words and values. Also, you could chose to have an ordinal scale such as the one represented in Exercise 4.14 in CORE on the US China game on climate change). Make sure your essay addresses the institutional dimension, namely, how institutions, power, fairness and the Pareto criteria can be analyzed.
The rubric we will use for this essay will have the following components:
-There is a clear question that is being addressed in your analysis
-The game is clearly described using a payoffs matrix and all its components (players, strategies, payoffs, information)
-The game is analyzed using the tools of game theory (dominant strategies, possible equilibria, social optimality)
-Institutions, power, fairness and Pareto efficiency are discussed for your game (who benefits, who loses)
-Conclusions
-Style (clarity, spelling, references, graphs, tables)
For purposes of facilitating everyone, this is similar to the game of driving on your right, let us all use the APA system for citing your sources. Here is a link to a good guide.
Here are some FAQ for Essay-1 from questions that I have received:
Yes, the essay should have at least one matrix with two players and two choices each with a description, that reflects the situation you are analyzing.
The cells in the matrix can be based on numbers or with ordinal scales (for example: best>intermediate>bad>worst) that allow for comparisons between choices for each player.
These numbers or ordinal values are of course made up, but they have to make sense and be well justified in the setup of your story.
yes you have to analyze your game by identifying if there are or not dominant strategies, equilibria and social and Pareto efficiencies.
The words in the tables or matrices should not be counted in the 1,500 words limit.
Let me know if you have other questions
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Chapters 4 and 5 CORE. You can find it here https://www(dot)core-econ(dot)org/the-economy/book/text/01.html