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Topic · Management Science and Operations Research

Game Theory and Applications

Game Theory and Applications is a research topic within Management Science and Operations Research. Science Explorer counts 21k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on network formation, game dynamics, and strategic interactions in social and economic networks. It explores topics such as selfish routing, Bayesian learning, information design, reputation, coordination games, and the price of anarchy in network environments.

  • Network Formation
  • Game Theory
  • Social Networks
  • Nash Equilibrium
  • Bayesian Learning
  • Information Design
  • Selfish Routing
  • Reputation
  • Coordination Games
  • Price of Anarchy
Research works
21k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-1%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
32% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Game Theory and Applications

Which countries lead Game Theory and Applications research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (794 and 665 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 794 works
  2. 2 China 665 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 183 works
  4. 4 France 154 works
  5. 5 Germany 152 works
  6. 6 Japan 139 works
  7. 7 Italy 131 works
  8. 8 India 114 works
  9. 9 Canada 99 works
  10. 10 Russia 84 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 31.6%China: 26.4%United Kingdom: 7.3%France: 6.1%6 others listed: 28.6%32%largest
United States794 · 31.6%China665 · 26.4%United Kingdom183 · 7.3%France154 · 6.1%6 others listed720 · 28.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Game Theory and Applications research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Game Theory and Applications research, followed by New York University and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 54 works
  2. 2 New York UniversityUnited States 26 works
  3. 3 University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States 25 works
  4. 4 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 23 works
  5. 5 St Petersburg UniversityRussia 22 works
  6. 6 Cornell UniversityUnited States 21 works
  7. 7 Tel Aviv UniversityIsrael 18 works
  8. 8 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 18 works
  9. 9 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 16 works
  10. 10 Tsinghua UniversityChina 16 works

Who are the leading researchers in Game Theory and Applications?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Game Theory and Applications include Andrei Shleifer, Trevor William Robbins and Harry Eugene Stanley.

  1. 1 Andrei Shleifer United States 234k citations
  2. 2 Trevor William Robbins United Kingdom 199k citations
  3. 3 Harry Eugene Stanley United States 198k citations
  4. 4 Michael I. Jordan United States 182k citations
  5. 5 Herbert A. Simon United States 179k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Game Theory and Applications?

The most cited paper in Game Theory and Applications is "The Structure and Function of Complex Networks" (Michael E. Newman, 2003), with 18,932 citations. Next come "Centrality in social networks conceptual clarification" (17,222) and "Theory of games and economic behavior" (16,891).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Structure and Function of Complex Networks Michael E. Newman · SIAM Review Open access 2003 18,932
2 Centrality in social networks conceptual clarification Linton C. Freeman · Social Networks 1978 17,222
3 Theory of games and economic behavior Stephan Ramon Garcia, Steven J. Miller · American Mathematical Society eBooks Book chapterOpen access 12 Jun 2019 16,891
4 Evolution and the Theory of Games John Maynard Smith Book chapter 1988 8,017
5 Equilibrium points in n -person games John F. Nash · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open access 1950 7,452
All 98 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Game Theory and Applications research done?

The largest centres of Game Theory and Applications research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Tokyo (Japan) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Tel Aviv and Urbana.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 117 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 78 works
  3. 3 TokyoJapan 63 works
  4. 4 LondonUnited Kingdom 60 works
  5. 5 ParisFrance 55 works
  6. 6 New YorkUnited States 49 works
  7. 7 NanjingChina 47 works
  8. 8 MoscowRussia 38 works
  9. 9 SingaporeSingapore 31 works
  10. 10 Hong KongChina 31 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Tel AvivIL · 22.1 works9.0×
  2. UrbanaUS · 25.3 works8.7×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Game Theory and Applications than the world average.

See Game Theory and Applications on the map

Where is the best place to study Game Theory and Applications?

Among universities, judged by research, New York University, University of Chicago and Massachusetts Institute of Technology score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 15.28%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of Califo…University of ChicagoMassachusetts Instit…New York University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1New York UniversityUnited States 78.010.6%8.2×26 +26.5%
2University of ChicagoUnited States 72.116.1%6.4×15 +12.9%
3Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 70.915.7%8.2×16 -2.2%
4University of California, BerkeleyUnited States 70.417.0%5.5×15 +10.0%
5Cornell UniversityUnited States 67.410.8%5.5×20 +19.7%
6University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States 64.18.0%10.4×25 +15.6%
7Yale UniversityUnited States 60.515.4%4.9×15 +5.2%
8Columbia UniversityUnited States 59.516.5%5.0×16 -18.1%
9Southeast UniversityChina 56.921.1%2.4×10 +260.8%
10University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 55.821.6%2.7×9 +22.7%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Game Theory and Applications, country by country

Is Game Theory and Applications research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 1% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2015.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Game Theory and Applications as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.011% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Game Theory and Applications0.013% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Game Theory and Applications over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Game Theory and Applications10.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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