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Ehud Kalai
Ehud Kalai

MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS & DECISION SCIENCES
James J. O'Connor Professor of Decision and Game Sciences
Director of the Center for Strategic Decision Making

Print Overview

Ehud Kalai advanced the frontiers of game theory and its interface with economics, social choice, operations research and computer science. His work opened and expanded our understanding of bargaining, strategic learning, large games and related subjects. The research is reported in over sixty scientific papers published by the leading game theory, economics, and operations journals.

Holding an AB in mathematics (U. of Calif. Berkeley, 1967), MS and PhD in statistics and mathematics (Cornell, 1971, 72), Kalai joined Northwestern University in 1975 after serving as assistant professor at Tel Aviv University. He is the James J. O’Connor Distinguished Professor of Decision and Game Sciences in the Kellogg School of Management. Past chair of the department of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, Kalai is the founding director of the Center for Strategic Decision Making, the founding organizer of the prestigious Nancy L. Schwartz Memorial Lecture series, and repeated winner of Outstanding Teacher awards in Kellogg’s Executive Programs.

Kalai is the founding Editor of Games and Economic Behavior, the top journal in game theory today, co-founder and president of the international Game Theory Society, and Fellow of the Econometric Society. He was awarded the Oskar Morgenstern Research Professorship at New York University, the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar position at the California Institute of Technology, and numerous NSF and other research grants. His consulting activities included Baxter Health Care Systems, Kaiser Permanente, Arthur Anderson, First Chicago, Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal and Israel Defense Forces among others.



Area of Expertise

Game Theory
Print Vita
Education
PhD, 1972, Mathematics, Statistics, Cornell University
MS, 1971, Mathematics, Statistics, Cornell University
AB, 1967, Mathematics, University of California, Berkeley

Academic Positions
The James J. O'Connor Distinguished Professor of Decision and Game Sciences, Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2001-present
Professor, Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University, 1990-present
The Charles E. Morrison Professor of Decision Sciences, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1982-2001
Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1978-1982
Associate Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1976-1978
Visiting Assistant Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1975-1976
Assistant Professor, Statistics, Tel Aviv University, 1972-1975

Editorial Positions
Editor-in-Chief, Games and Economic Behavior, 1988-Present
Associate Editor, International Journal of Game Theory, 1984-Present
Executive Director, The Nancy L. Schwartz Memorial Lecture Series, 1981-Present
Founding Editor, Games and Economic Behavior, 1998
Associate Editor, Mathematical Social Sciences, 1980-1993
Associate Editor, Journal of Economic Theory, 1980-1988

 
Print Research
Research Interests
Game theory, mathematical economics

Articles
Kalai, Ehud. 2008. Presidential Address of the Second World Congress of Game Theory. Games and Economic Behavior. Forthcoming
Abstract
Kalai, Ehud. 2005. Partially-Specified Large Games. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. 3828: 3-13.
AbstractLink
Kalai, Ehud. 2004. Large Robust Games. Econometrica. 72(6): 1631-1665.
AbstractLink
Kalai, Ehud and Eilon Solan. 2003. Randomization and Simplification in Dynamic Decision Making. Journal of Economic Theory. 111(2): 251-264.
Kalai, Adam and Ehud Kalai. 2001. Strategy Polarization. Journal of Mathematical Psychology. 45(4): 656-663.
AbstractLink
Jackson, Matthew O., Ehud Kalai and Rann Smorodinsky. 1999. Bayesian Representations of Stochastic Processes Under Learning: deFinetti Revisited. Econometrica. 67(4): 875-893.
Kalai, Ehud, Ehud Lehrer and Rann Smorodinsky. 1999. Calibrated Forecasting and Merging. Games and Economic Behavior. 29(1-2): 151-169.
Jackson, Matthew O. and Ehud Kalai. 1999. Reputation versus Social Learning. Journal of Economic Theory. 88(1): 40-59.
Kalai, Ehud and John Ledyard. 1998. Repeated Implementation. Journal of Economic Theory. 83(2): 308-317.
Jackson, Matthew O. and Ehud Kalai. 1997. Social Learning in Recurring Games. Games and Economic Behavior. 21(1-2): 102-134.
AbstractLink
Fershtman, Chaim and Ehud Kalai. 1997. Unobserved Delegation. International Economic Review. 38(4): 763-744.
Kalai, Ehud and Ehud Lehrer. 1995. Subjective Games and Equilibria. Games and Economic Behavior. 8(1): 123-163.
Kalai, Ehud and Ehud Lehrer. 1994. Weak and Strong Merging of Opinions. Journal of Mathematical Economics. 23(1): 73-86.
Fershtman, Chaim and Ehud Kalai. 1993. Complexity Considerations and Market Behavior. RAND Journal of Economics. 24(2): 224-235.
Kalai, Ehud and Ehud Lehrer. 1993. Rational Learning Leads to Nash Equilibrium. Econometrica. 61(5): 1019-1045.
Kalai, Ehud and Ehud Lehrer. 1993. Subjective Equilibrium in Repeated Games. Econometrica. 61(5): 1231-1240.
Gilboa, Itzhak, Ehud Kalai and Eitan Zemel. 1993. The Complexity of Eliminating Dominated Strategies. Mathematics of Operations Research. 18(3): 553-565.
Baron, David and Ehud Kalai. 1993. The Simplest Equilibrium of a Majority-Rule Division Game. Journal of Economic Theory. 61(2): 290-301.
Kalai, Ehud, Morton Kamien and Michael Rubinovitch. 1992. Optimal Service Speeds in a Competitive Environment. Management Science. 38(8): 1154-1163.
Kalai, Ehud and Alejandro Neme. 1992. The Strength of a Little Perfection. International Journal of Game Theory. 20(4): 335-355.
AbstractLink
Fershtman, Chaim, Kenneth L. Judd and Ehud Kalai. 1991. Observable Contracts: Strategic Delegation and Cooperation. International Economic Review. 32(3): 551-559.
Gilboa, Itzhak, Ehud Kalai and Eitan Zemel. 1990. On the Order of Eliminating Dominated Strategies. Operations Research Letters. 9(2): 85-89.
Kalai, Ehud, Dov Samet and William Stanford. 1988. A Note on Reactive Equilibria in the Discounted Prisoners' Dilemma. International Journal of Game Theory. 17(3): 177-186.
Kalai, Ehud and William Stanford. 1988. Finite Rationality and Interpersonal Complexity in Repeated Games. Econometrica. 56(2): 397-410.
Kalai, Ehud and Dov Samet. 1987. On Weighted Shapley Values. International Journal of Game Theory. 16(3): 205-222.
Kalai, Ehud. 1987. Strategic Behavior and Competition: An overview. Journal of Economic Theory. 39(1): 1-13.
Kalai, Ehud and William Stanford. 1985. Conjectural Variations Strategies in Accelerated Cournot Games. International Journal of Industrial Organization. 3(3): 133-152.
Kalai, Ehud and Dov Samet. 1985. Monotonic Solutions to General Cooperative Games. Econometrica. 53(2): 307-327.
Kalai, Ehud and Dov Samet. 1985. Unanimity Games and Pareto Optimality. International Journal of Game Theory. 14(1): 41-50.
Kalai, Ehud and Dov Samet. 1984. Persistent Equilibria in Strategic Games. International Journal of Game Theory. 13(3): 129-144.
Kalai, Ehud and Eitan Zemel. 1982. Generalized Network Problems Yielding Totally Balanced Games. Operations Research. 30(4): 998-1008.
Kalai, Ehud and Eitan Zemel. 1982. Totally Balanced Games and Games of Flow. Mathematics of Operations Research. 7(3): 476-478.
AbstractLink
Kalai, Ehud. 1981. Preplay Negotiations and the Prisoners' Dilemma. Mathematical Social Sciences. 1(4): 375-379.
Kalai, Ehud and Zvi Ritz. 1980. Characterization of the Private Alternatives Domains Admitting Arrow Social Welfare Functions. Journal of Economic Theory. 22(1): 23-36.
AbstractLink
Kalai, Ehud and Nimrod Megiddo. 1980. Path Independent Choices. Econometrica. 48(3): 781-784.
Link
Kalai, Ehud, Andrew Postlewaite and John Roberts. 1979. A Group Incentive Compatible Mechanism Yielding Core Allocations. Journal of Economic Theory. 20(1): 13-22.
Kalai, Ehud, Andrew Postlewaite and John Roberts. 1979. Barriers to Trade and Disadvantageous Middlemen: Nonmonotonicity of the Core. Journal of Economic Theory. 19(1): 200-209.
Kalai, Ehud, Eitan Muller and Mark Satterthwaite. 1979. Social Welfare Functions when Preferences are Convex and Continuous: Impossibility Results. Public Choice. 34(1): 87-98.
Read
Anbar, Dan and Ehud Kalai. 1978. A One-Shot Bargaining Problem. International Journal of Game Theory. 7(1): 19-30.
Kalai, Ehud and Robert Rosenthal. 1978. Arbitration of Two-Party Disputes under Ignorance. International Journal of Game Theory. 7(2): 65-72.
Kalai, Ehud and David Schmeidler. 1977. Aggregation Procedure for Cardinal Preferences: A Formulation and Proof of Samuelson's Impossibility Conjecture. Econometrica. 45(6): 1431-1438.
Kalai, Ehud and David Schmeidler. 1977. An Admissible Set Occurring in Various Bargaining Situations. Journal of Economic Theory. 14(2): 402-411.
Kalai, Ehud and Eitan Muller. 1977. Characterization of Domains Admitting Non-Dictatorial Social Welfare Functions and Non-Manipulable Voting Procedures. Journal of Economic Theory. 16(2): 457-469.
Kalai, Ehud. 1977. Non-Symmetric Nash Solutions for Replications of 2-Person Bargaining. International Journal of Game Theory. 6(3): 129-133.
Kalai, Ehud. 1977. Proportional Solutions to Bargaining Situations: Interpersonal Utility Comparisons. Econometrica. 45(7): 1623-1630.
Kalai, Ehud, Elisha A. Pazner and David Schmeidler. 1976. Collective Choice Correspondences as Admissible Outcomes of Social Bargaining Processes. Econometrica. 44(2): 233-240.
Kalai, Ehud. 1975. Excess Functions for Cooperative Games Without Sidepayments. SIAM Journal of Applied Mathematics. 29(1): 60-71.
Kalai, Ehud and Rann Smorodinsky. 1975. On a Game-Theoretic Notion of Complexity for Compact Convex Sets. Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society. 49(2): 416-420.
Kalai, Ehud. 1975. On Game-Type Subsets. International Journal of Game Theory. 4(3): 141-150.
Kalai, Ehud and Rann Smorodinsky. 1975. Other Solutions to Nash's Bargaining Problems. Econometrica. 43(3): 513-518.
Working Papers
Ben-Sasson, Eli, Adam Kalai and Ehud Kalai. Forthcoming. An Approach to Bounded Rationality. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems. 19
AbstractLink
Kalai, Ehud. Forthcoming. Personal View of Game Theory.
AbstractLink
Kalai, Adam, Ehud Kalai, Ehud Lehrer and Dov Samet. 2008. A Commitment Folk Theorem.
Abstract
Gossner, Olivier, Ehud Kalai and Robert Weber. 2008. Information Independence and Common Knowledge.
Abstract
Kalai, Ehud. 2008. Large Games (Structural Robustness).
AbstractLink
Kalai, Ehud. 2002. Ex-Post Stability in Large Games.
Kalai, Ehud. 2000. Private Information in Large Games.
Book Chapters
Kalai, Ehud. 2008. "Games in Coalitional Form." In New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition, edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume, McMillan.
Abstract
Kalai, Ehud and Ehud Lehrer. 1999. "Rational Learning Leads to Nash Equilibrium." In Recent Development in Game Theory, edited by E. Maskin, 183-209. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Jackson, Matthew O. and Ehud Kalai. 1999. "Social Learning in Recurring Games." In Social Organization and Mechanism Design, edited by Claude d’Aspremont, De Boeck & Larcier s.a..
Jackson, Matthew O. and Ehud Kalai. 1997. "Recurring Bullies, Trembling and Learning." In Understanding Strategic Interaction: Essays in Honor of Reinhard Selten, edited by W. Albers, W. Guth, P. Hammerstein, B. Moldovanu, and E. Van Damme, Springer-Verlag.
Kalai, Ehud and Mark Satterthwaite. 1994. "The Kinked Demand Curve, Facilitating Practices, and Oligopolistic Coordination." In Imperfections and Behavior in Economic Organizations, edited by R. P. Gilles and P. H. M. Ruys, 15-38. Kluwer.
Kalai, Ehud. 1993. "A Rational Game Theory Framework for the Analysis of Legal and Criminal Decision Making." In Inside the Juror: The Psychology of Juror Decision Making, edited by R. Hastie, 235-241. Oxford University Press.
Kalai, Ehud and Dov Samet. 1992. "Types Decomposition and Perfect Implementations." In Rational Interaction, Essays in Honor of John C. Harsanyi, edited by Reinhard Selten, Springer-Verlag.
Kalai, Ehud. 1990. "Bounded Rationality and Strategic Complexity in Repeated Games." In Game Theory and Applications, edited by Ichiishi Tatsuro, Neyman Abraham, Tauman Yair, Academic Press.
Kalai, Ehud and Dov Samet. 1988. "Weighted Shapley Values." In The Shapley Value, Essays in Honor of Lloyd S. Shapley, edited by Alvin E. Roth, 83-100. Cambridge University Press.
Kalai, Ehud. 1985. "Solutions to the Bargaining Problem." In Social Goals and Social Organization, Essays in Memory of Elisha A. Pazner, edited by Hurwicz, Schmeidler and Sonnenschein, 77-106. Cambridge University Press.
Kalai, Ehud, Andrew Postlewaite and John Roberts. 1979. "Arbitration of Exchange Situations with Public Goods." In Applied Game Theory, edited by S. J. Brams, A. Schotter, G. Schwödiauer, vol. 1, Würzburg: Physica Verlag.
Other
Kalai, Ehud. "Games, Computers, and O.R.." Proceedings of the Seventh Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms.
Kalai, Ehud. "Games and Economic Behavior (Editorial)." Games and Economic Behavior.
Books
Kalai, Ehud. 1998. Frontiers of Research in Economic Theory : The Nancy L. Schwartz Memorial Lectures, 1983-1997. Cambridge University Press.

 
Print Teaching
Teaching Interests
Quantitative methods and decision theory with managerial applications
Full-Time / Part-Time MBA
Decision Making Under Uncertainty (DECS-433-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Decision Sciences.

Provides frameworks for reasoning about decisions in uncertain environments. Case studies and experiments are used to motivate the importance of probabilistic reasoning to avoid the systematic biases that cloud managers' decision making. Formal probabilistic tools are introduced and their relevance to modern business issues is conveyed via cases, exercises, and class experiments. Some of the applications include: inventory management with uncertain demand, principal-agent models, herd behavior, selection bias, rare events, real options and risk. The course is self-contained, and should be of value to all students, including those with prior exposure to formal probability models.

Game Theory and Strategic Decision (formerly Strategic Decision Making) (DECS-452-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Decision Sciences, Managerial Analytics.

Decision makers face two types of uncertainty: uncertainty about the state of nature (how much oil is on a tract of land) and uncertainty about the strategic behavior of other decision makers (what pricing strategy a competitor will follow). This course focuses on strategic uncertainty and the uses decision makers can make of the concepts of game theory to guide their decisions. Topics include bargaining and arbitration, collusion and competition, joint cost allocation, market entry and product differentiation, and competitive bidding. Role-playing exercises and case analysis are used.

Executive MBA
Analytical Approach to Uncertainty (DECSX-433-0)
Analytical Approach to Uncertainty introduces elementary probability theory as a tool for modeling uncertainty in business, with illustrations from decision theory and statistics.

Game Theory (MECSX-460-0)
Game Theory studies strategic interaction and conflict resolution in competitive and cooperative environments. Principles of strategic reasoning and related mathematical formulas are taught through real-life examples and in-class games, giving students an edge in external business competition and in internal organization management.