Asymmetric Stag Hunt

Per (Scotchmer) asymmetric stag hunt game features unequal payoffs, and with that, two stable Nash equilibria; the cooperative payoff dominant strategy or the non-cooperative risk dominant strategy. Cooperation in this game is dependent entirely on expectations of the other player’s choice. Players can either cooperate for a reward or defect for a guaranteed reward.

Examples:
- CountryA/B Committing/Not Committing to climate change action (and each values the “action” differently)
- Country A/B focusing on short term costs of climate change action versus long term gains of climate change action.
- Classmate A/B cooperating (working together) or defecting (working alone) (and each values the work differently).

Read more about stag hunt here.

Scotchmer, Liam. “Asymmetric Stag Hunt.” Polonomic Papers, 2025, polonomicpapers.com/asymmetric-stag-hunt. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.