Table 9.1. Prisoner’s Dilemma
334 STRATEGY ANALYSIS
The values in the table represent payoffs, in terms of jail sentences; the
payoffs for Suspect A are below the diagonal, while the payoffs for Suspect B
are above the diagonal. The objective for each suspect in this case is obviously
to minimize the payoff in terms of jail time. The problem that they have in this
case is that the best combination payoff for the pair of them is for them both
not to confess, in other words to ‘co-operate’ with each other. However, as we
shall see shortly, this is not an equilibrium strategy. The equilibrium strategy is
for both suspects to confess, or to ‘defect’. This equilibrium situation represents