The Absent - Minded Driver
Robert J. Aumann, Sergiu Hart and Motty Perry
Abstract
The example of the "absent-minded driver" was introduced by
Piccione &
Rubinstein [Games and Economic Behavior
20 (1997), 3-24] in the context of games and decision problems
with imperfect
recall. They claim that a "paradox" or "inconsistency" arises when
the
decision reached at the "planning stage" is compared with that at
the "action
stage". Though the example is provocative and worth having, their
analysis is
questionable. A careful analysis reveals that while the
considerations at the
planning and action stages do differ, there is no paradox or
inconsistency.
Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D81,
C72
-
Proceedings of the Sixth Conference on
Theoretical Aspects of Rationality and Knowledge
(TARK), Yoav Shoham (editor),
Morgan Kaufmann (1996), 97-116
[first version]
- Games and Economic Behavior 20 (1997), 1, 102-116
[final version]