# Non-Cooperative Games **Domain:** game theory **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Classification:** Infrastructure Concept **Maturity:** Foundational **Related:** [[Game Theory]], [[Nash Equilibrium]], [[John Nash]], [[Objective Function]], [[Nonlinear Dynamics]] --- ## Definition **Strategic interactions where participants cannot form binding agreements**, each pursuing autonomous strategies subject only to rules of the game. Non-cooperative analysis applies to competition, conflict, and markets without overarching authority. --- ## General Context Economic competition and international relations are prototypical non-cooperative contexts. Non-cooperative game theory contrasts with cooperative game theory, which permits binding coalition agreements. --- ## Key Insight Non-cooperative games reveal why individual rationality can produce collectively inefficient outcomes (prisoner's dilemma, tragedy of the commons, arms races). Addressing these requires institutional structures that change payoff matrices. --- ## See Also [[The Algorithmic State]], [[Computational Governance]], [[Model-Based Governance]], [[Mathematical Foundations]], [[Governance Testbeds]]