Titel

Many de­cis­i­ons that in­di­vi­du­als make are in­flu­en­ced by the choices of their friends and ac­quain­tances. For in­stance, the de­cis­i­on of an in­di­vi­du­al about whe­ther or not to buy a new pro­duct, at­tend a mee­ting, com­mit a crime, find a job, exchan­ge or trade, is often in­flu­en­ced by the de­cis­i­ons of his or her friends and ac­quain­tances. Net­work games use game theo­ry to ana­ly­ze the in­ter­ac­tions of in­di­vi­du­als who are con­nec­ted via a net­work and whose be­ha­vi­or is in­flu­en­ced by their neigh­bors, since the payoffs that in­di­vi­du­als ob­tain from va­rious de­cis­i­ons de­pend on the be­ha­vi­or of their neigh­bors. In par­ti­cu­lar, net­work games study the im­pact of the struc­tu­re of the (com­plex) net­work on in­di­vi­du­als' be­ha­vi­or.