STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Game-theory experts in Israel and the United States were selected to share the 2005 prize for economics awarded by a Nobel-affiliated committee in Sweden.
Robert J. Aumann, 75, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Thomas C. Schelling, 84, of the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., will share the prize. The committee noted the pair's work on enhancing "our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis."
The award committee said Schelling showed that "uncertain retaliation is more credible and more efficient than certain retaliation," and that idea has since been applied to the social sciences.
Aumann was cited for his work in "infinitely repeated games," which "clarifies the raison d'être of many institutions, ranging from merchant guilds and organized crime to wage negotiations and international trade agreements."
The prize is formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, since it is not one of the original honors Nobel left funds for. It is also the youngest prize, having been given only since 1969.
The prize, awarded at ceremonies Dec. 10 in Stockholm, carries a cash award of about $1.3 million.
