Unbeatable imitation of a friend

Abstract

Imitation sometimes achieves success in multi-agent situations even though it is very simple. In game theory, success of imitation has been characterized by unbeatability against other agents. Previous studies specified conditions under which imitation is unbeatable in repeated games, and clarified that the existence of unbeatable imitation is strongly related to the existence of payoff-controlling strategies, called zero-determinant strategies. However, the previous studies mainly focused on ``imitation of opponents''. It was pointed out that imitation of other players in the same group and imitation of other players in the same role in other groups generally result in different outcomes. Here, we investigate the existence condition of unbeatable imitation in the latter ``imitation of friends'' situations. We find that it is stronger than the existence condition of unbeatable zero-determinant strategies, whereas both are very limited. Our findings suggest a strong relation between them even in the `imitation of friends'' situations.