Includes bibliographical references (p. 273-285) and index.

1. Economic development, interdependence, and incentives -- 2. Games -- 3. Development traps and coordination games -- 4. Rural poverty, development, and the environment -- 5. Risk, solidarity networks, and reciprocity -- 6. Understanding agrarian institutions -- 7. Savings, credit, and microfinance -- 8. Social learning and technology adoption -- 9. Property rights, governance, and corruption -- 10. Conflict, violence, and development -- 11. Social capital -- 12. The political economy of trade and development.

"Games in Economic Development examines the roots of poverty and prosperity through the lens of elementary game theory, illustrating how patterns of human interaction can lead to vicious cycles of poverty as well as virtuous cycles of prosperity. The book shows how both social norms and carefully designed institutions can help shape the 'rules of the game', making better outcomes in a game possible for everyone involved. The book is entertaining to read, it can be accessed with little background in development economics or game theory. Its chapters explore games in natural resource use; education; coping with risk; borrowing and lending; technology adoption; governance and corruption; civil conflict; international trade; and the importance of networks, religion, and identity, illustrating concepts with numerous anecdotes from recent world events. Comes complete with an appendix, explaining the basic ideas in game theory used in the book." -- Preface.