Over the past two decades, academic economics has undergone a mild revolution in methodology. The language, concepts and techniques of noncooperative game theory have become central to the discipline. This book provides the reader with some basic concepts from noncooperative theory, and then goes on to explore the strengths, weaknesses, and future of the theory as a tool of economic modelling and analysis. The central theses are that noncooperative game theory has been a remarkably popular tool in economics over the past decade because it allows analysts to capture essential features of dynamic competition and competition where some parties have proprietary information. The theory is weakest in providing a sense of when it - and equilibrium analysis in particular - can be applied and what to do when equilibrium analysis is inappropriate. Many of these weaknesses can be addressed by the consideration of individuals who are boundedly rational and learn imperfectly from the past. Written in a non-technical style and working by analogy, the book, first given as part of the Clarendon Lectures in Economics, is readily accessible to a broad audience and will be of interest to economists and students alike. Knowledge of game theory is not required as the concepts are developed as the book progresses.

Game Theory and Economic Modelling

Researchers recently pointed to family science as one avenue for better understanding business families. We submit, however, that leveraging family science will require building on what researchers...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0894486519863508

What Do We Know About Business Families? Setting the Stage for Leveraging Family Science Theories:

This review examines how family businesses manage family-related conflicts that occur at three interfaces: family-business, family-ownership, and family-business-ownership. We find that work-family...

Managing Family-Related Conflicts in Family Businesses: A Review and Research Agenda:

Through a systematic literature review, we assess the current state of research on intrafamily conflicts in family firms, systematize the findings, and outline avenues for future research. Based on...

Intrafamily Conflicts in Family Businesses: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Agenda for Future Research:

Daughters’ careers in family business: Motivation types and family-specific barriers

Effects of sibling competition on family firm succession: A game theory approach

The fight against money laundering has taken center stage in the global arena. The European Union (EU), in line with various international organizations, plays an active role in the fight against this crime and promotes anti money laundering directions to its member states. The statistics regarding Portugal (a member of the EU since 1986) indicate that it lags behind most of the EU members in terms of reporting of suspicions of money laundering. This paper adopts a game theory approach to study the efficiency of the combat against money laundering in Portugal, both with regard to the financial and the non financial sector of the economy. Additionally, the paper studies the impact of the increase of sanctions, as recommended by the 4th Directive 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20th May of 2015, on that combat. The results show that the low probability of the institutions being caught (and fined) for not complying with their reporting duties, coupled with the low conviction rates for money laundering crimes, justifies the reduced number of suspicious transactions reported. The findings highlight that an increase of sanctions, on both financial and non financial institutions, would tend to augment the efficiency of the combat against money laundering in Portugal.

/pdf/portuguese-anti-money-laundering-policy-a-game-theory-5buup6uphq.pdf

Portuguese Anti-money Laundering Policy: a Game Theory Approach

India is one of the fastest growing economies and becoming a key player in the global business arena. The Indian economic landscape is dominated by family firms which range from small corner shops to global diversified conglomerates. A large majority of these firms are fast approaching the critical stage of succession. The way the challenge of executive succession is addressed is influenced by the cultural setting. The older generations are rooted in the traditional cultural norms whereas the younger generations are in closer contact with western values and more permeable to these. This paper uses a game theory approach to analyze the impact that culture has on successor selection in family firms, focusing on the younger generation’s cultural alignment with the underlining norms and values of the Indian society. The results emphasize that the younger generation’s cultural misalignment can jeopardize intergenerational succession and risk family harmony. The findings highlight the importance of promoting cultural congruence in the family firm.

http://repositorio.uportu.pt:8080/bitstream/11328/1825/1/Cultural%20dimension%20of%20Indian%20FF_SS_final.pdf

Cultural dimension of Indian family firms: Impact on Successor Selection

Although corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been gaining relevance in the academic, business, and political worlds, the relationship between CSR and performance remains unclear. This study provides a better understanding of the relationship between companies' financial performance and CSR activities. In other words, can the allocation of company resources to address social, environmental, and governance issues be a source of synergy to increase business value and improve financial performance for the benefit of the company and its stakeholders? To shed new light on this issue, we mapped this topic via a systematic review and content analysis of 53 articles identified in the confluence between CSR and financial performance from 1984 to 2021. Our study suggests that CSR directly impacts a company's financial performance, and this impact becomes more significant as the company's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores improve. Moreover, we must note that this is a comprehensive study whose results include analyses of companies from the world's largest stock market indices, mutual funds, sustainable portfolios, non-sustainable portfolios, regions, asset classes for ESG investing, emerging markets, developed and developing countries, among others. Additionally, this study provides a path for future research. 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/csr.2446

The impact of social responsibility on corporate financial performance: A systematic literature review

PurposeThe study aims to investigate the effect of cultural alignment and value congruency between children and founder on intergenerational succession and on the observation of family optimal outcomes.Design/methodology/approachA game-theoretical approach is used to develop a sequential game modeling the strategic interactions behind successor selection. The authors test its main predictions by conducting an experiment with 75 subjects.FindingsA theoretical prediction that misalignment between children and founder leads to outcomes without intergenerational succession, or to outcomes with intergenerational succession that are not family optimal. These predictions are buttressed by our experiment, which also found evidence that the family optimal outcome is focal when there are multiple equilibria.Research limitations/implicationsNo light is thrown on the sources of cultural (mis)alignment, but only on some of its consequences. Further studies of a different nature are needed to better understand the former.Practical implicationsCultural diffusion and value congruency within the family should be timely fostered to promote harmony during the succession process and raise the chances of successful succession.Originality/valueThe cultural alignment and value congruency between incumbent and successors is treated as shaping the incentives that both types of agents face in the successor-selection process. Further, experimental techniques have not been used to test the results obtained in games exploring issues in family firm succession. This paper aims to begin filling this gap.

Shital Jayantilal

Papers

Effects of sibling competition on family firm succession: A game theory approach

Portuguese Anti-money Laundering Policy: a Game Theory Approach

Cultural dimension of Indian family firms: Impact on Successor Selection

The impact of social responsibility on corporate financial performance: A systematic literature review

Cultural alignment and intergenerational succession in family firms: a game-theoretical experiment