MATLAB as an Instrument for Reduction of Payoff Matrix in Games with Non-zero Sum

Abstract

Generally, the game theory is used for analysis of conflicting decision making situations (games) with multiple subjects (players) involved. The simplest games include two-player games where the payoffs for both players can be easily characterized in a matrix form. Although a notation of this type of game is relatively simple, the possibility of finding equilibrium strategies is rather complicated. The related mathematical model is the nonlinear programming problem. The aim of the paper is to point out the possibilities of reducing payoffs matrices to considerably simplify the solution of the respective game. The reduction will be performed by the iterative procedure in the MATLAB software.