Games in Economic Development

Games in Economic Development examines the roots of poverty and prosperity through the lens of elementary game theory, illustrating how patterns of human interaction can lead to vicious cycles of poverty as well as virtuous cycles of prosperity. This book shows how both social norms and carefully designed institutions can help shape the 'rules of the game', making better outcomes in a game possible for everyone involved. The book is entertaining to read, it can be accessed with little background in development economics or game theory. Its chapters explore games in natural resource use; education; coping with risk; borrowing and lending; technology adoption; governance and corruption; civil conflict; international trade; and the importance of networks, religion, and identity, illustrating concepts with numerous anecdotes from recent world events. Comes complete with an appendix, explaining the basic ideas in game theory used in the book.

1. Economic development, interdependence, and incentives; 2. Games; 3. Development traps and coordination games; 4. Rural poverty, development, and the environment; 5. Risk, solidarity networks, and reciprocity; 6. Understanding agrarian institutions; 7. Savings, credit, and microfinance; 8. Social learning and technology adoption; 9. Property rights, governance, and corruption; 10. Conflict, violence, and development; 11. Social capital; 12. The political economy of trade and development.

Bruce Wydick is Professor of Economics at the University of San Francisco, where he has taught since 1996, after completing his Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley. His research focuses on applications of game theory as well as empirical and experimental methods to poverty and development issues, especially to microfinance. Professor Wydick has published over a dozen articles in academic journals such as the Journal of Development Economics, Economic Development and Cultural Change, World Development, and the Economic Journal and has received grants and awards for his research from USAID, the Jesuit Foundation, the McCarthy Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trust. He is co director of the master's program in international and development economics at the University of San Francisco, has served as a consultant on a number of research projects of the World Bank, and is actively involved in both field research and development work in the highlands of western Guatemala.