John Nash and the analysis of strategic behavior

This essay describes one economist’s view of how four extraordinary papers by John Nash, two on non-cooperative game theory [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 36 (1950b) 48–49; Annals of Mathematics 54 (1951) 286–295] and two on the theory of bargaining [Econometrica 18 (1950a) 155–162; Econometrica 21 (1953) 128–140], influenced the development of game theory as a tool for analyzing strategic behavior