the outcome with the highest total outcome. If players are in the game repeatedly, or if there is possibility of role reversibility, the players may choose to cooperate to maximize total payoffs over all periods C. Prisoners Dilemma situations This is probably the best known and most widely used set of games. a prisoners dilemma game is game with a surplus obtainable through the parties' cooperation, but has dominant defection strategies which yield a sub-optimal outcome for both players, when both players follow a strategy that is privately rational. In such games, defection strategies are dominant, and the possibility of opportunistic behavior renders the Pareto optimal outcome unachievable in equilibrium. A pay-off matrix for a Prisoner's Dilemma game could have the following form Role reversibility, where any person could be on either side of a dispute, can lead to stable norms that yield efficient outcomes over time. This is accomplished by stochastic reciprocity, see discussion infra Part Il. The medieval law merchant provides one example. see Francesco Parisi, Customary Law in THE NEW PALGRAVE DICTIONARY OF ECONOMICS AND THE LAW (hereinafter, Parisi, Customary Law). See also, ROBERT C ELLICKSON ORDER WITHOUT LAW: HOW NEIGHBORS SETTLE DISPUTES (1991). Ellickson discusses the mechanisms of informal dispute settlement that have evolved among ranchers in Shasta County, California. In international law, role reversibility is at the heart of the reciprocity that is integral to the Law of the Sea as it has developed over time, as discussed infra Part Ill.C14Role reversibility, where any person could be on either side of a dispute, can lead to stable norms that yield efficient outcomes over time. This is accomplished by stochastic reciprocity, see discussion infra Part II. The medieval law merchant provides one example. see Francesco Parisi, Customary Law in THE NEW PALGRAVE DICTIONARY OF ECONOMICS AND THE LAW (hereinafter, Parisi, Customary Law). See also, ROBERT C. ELLICKSON, ORDER WITHOUT LAW: HOW NEIGHBORS SETTLE DISPUTES (1991). Ellickson discusses the mechanisms of informal dispute settlement that have evolved among ranchers in Shasta County, California. In international law, role reversibility is at the heart of the reciprocity that is integral to the Law of the Sea as it has developed over time, as discussed infra Part III.C. 9 the outcome with the highest total outcome. If players are in the game repeatedly, or if there is a possibility of role reversibility, the players may choose to cooperate to maximize total payoffs over all periods.14 C. Prisoners’ Dilemma Situations This is probably the best known and most widely used set of games. A prisoners dilemma game is game with a surplus obtainable through the parties’ cooperation, but has dominant defection strategies which yield a sub-optimal outcome for both players, when both players follow a strategy that is privately rational. In such games, defection strategies are dominant, and the possibility of opportunistic behavior renders the Pareto optimal outcome unachievable in equilibrium. A pay-off matrix for a Prisoner’s Dilemma game could have the following form: