On the inconsistency of certain axioms on solution concepts for non- cooperative games (Q798573)

At a 1981 Berkeley conference, E. Kohlberg discussed a proposed set of four axioms for a solution concept for a noncooperative game. The axioms may be briefly described as (A1) dependence only on normal form, (A2) existence, (A3) consistency with respect to dominance and (A4) consistency with respect to subgame replacement. The present paper provides simple two person examples to show that (i) (A2) and (A3) are inconsistent, and (ii) (A1), (A2) and (A4) are inconsistent. The tentative conclusion is that there may be no satisfactory solution concept which exploits only normal form information.