the choices from Prisoner A’s point of view. If A believes that B will confess, then A should confess, too, so as to

not get stuck with the eight years in prison. However, if A believes that B will not confess, then A will be

tempted to act selfishly and confess, so as to serve only one year. The key point is that A has an incentive to

confess regardless of what choice B makes! B faces the same set of choices, and thus will have an incentive to

confess regardless of what choice A makes. To confess is called the dominant strategy. It is the strategy an

individual (or firm) will pursue regardless of the other individual’s (or firm’s) decision. The result is that if

prisoners pursue their own self-interest, both are likely to confess, and end up being sentenced to a total of 10

years of jail time between them.

Prisoner B

Remain Silent (cooperate with

Confess (do not cooperate with

other prisoner)

other prisoner)

A gets 2 years, B gets 2 years

A gets 8 years, B gets 1 year
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