Systems of human social interaction can be studied from various perspectives, one of which is rational action. Under this approach, individuals are viewed as decision-makers who try to maximize their utility through choices among behavioral options. These decisions are based on limited information about other people and events in the environment. This project focuses on n-person games, that is, on multi-person decisions where each of the participants (or players) have interests that need not coincide with those of others. The primary goal of the project is to expand a new theory, called the central union theory, that predicts outcomes in a large class of n-person games with a high degree of accuracy. An examples of an outcome predicted by the theory are the probability that a certain coalition structure comes into place. The prediction of the theory will be tested on a large amount of empirical data from laboratory experimental studies of n-person games. This highly theoretical and mathematical project will expand and test a promising new theory about n-person cooperative games. A very valuable aspect of the project is its emphasis on the ability of the theory to predict empirical outcomes, rather than examining them only at the abstract level.
