Resumo

The literature on operations discusses topics from the firm’s perspective in an environment that does not necessarily consider competitors’ moves (Fiestras-Janeiro et al., 2011). One of the concerns of operations strategy is to gain a competitive advantage to their firms. Thus decision-makers must make decisions by considering a complex and dynamic environment with competitors and other players affecting focal firm outcomes. Behavioral game theory relates to this context. This theoretical approach studies the behavior of players with incorporated psychological assumptions.

The field of operations does not fully use the literature on interacted strategic decisions derived from game theory. Based on this problem, the question that this paper aims at answering is how can the behavioral game theory approach contribute to a better understanding of global operations research? To answer this question, we reviewed behavioral game theory, identified topics related to the area of operations and relate such theory to the research topics of the global operations research agenda.

Operations usually analyzes decision-making by taking into account only one decision maker. The result of a firm's operational decisions depends at least partly on the operational decision of other firms (Fiestras-Janeiro et al., 2011). This is the object of study of modern behavioral economics, more specifically of its subfield that is studied by game theorists. Interactions among decision makers mutually affect their results (Kao & Velupillai, 2015). The behavioral game theory approach can help explain the behavior of decision makers in operations management.

This paper uses the systematic review methodology proposed by Tranfield, Denyer & Smart (2003) to conduct this literature review on the behavioral game theory and highlight topics of interest on the operations field. The selection of behavioral approach was made because traditional game theory lacks the social utility and the human touch that exist in the real world. Our research on Web of Science returned 101 documents, of which 81 articles were analyzed in this review.

We identified the journals and the authors that have been publishing papers about behavioral game theory. We presented the papers that can influence research and management in operations field. We will show the results in three topics that can be related directly or indirectly to operations management: (1) auctions, reverse auctions and procurement activities, (2) cognitive hierarchy, level-K approaches in strategic thinking and (3) learning and cooperation.

In this paper, we to review the literature of game behavioral theory to give insights to the operations research agenda. Though traditional game theory can help the field of operations, the behavioral approach seems to fit the needs to predict and explain the behavior of players, especially in short run. Our results show some theories of the field of behavioral game theory that can be applied to the field of operations, as well as some studies that have already applied concepts of this theoretical approach in procurement activities.

Fiestras-Janeiro, M. G., García-Jurado, I., Meca, A., & Mosquera, M. A. (2011). Cooperative Game Theory and Inventory Management. European Journal of Operational Research, 210(3), 459–466. Kao, Y.-F. & Velupillai, V., 2015. “Behavioural Economics: Classical and Modern”. The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 22(223–271), pp.236–271. Tranfield, D., Denyer, D., & Smart, P. (2003). Towards a methodology for developing evidence‐informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. British journal of management, 14(3), 207-222.