The Collegetown Housing Rush in terms of Prisoner’s Dilemma
The extreme housing rush at Cornell can relate to many different concepts in the class. The article in the Cornell Daily Sun elaborates in this problem and talks about how it is getting worse every year, saying “In what some landlords are calling the fastest renting season in recent memory, students are rushing to claim housing in Collegetown, even sleeping outside rental agencies to be the first to secure the area’s most lucrative real estate.” The Sun narrates the stories of students who slept outside Ithaca Renting Company to sign leases. Ithaca Renting Co. has a policy of first come first serve when it comes to lese signing, leading to groups of people camping out in front of their office, to be the first ones in the door.
Most prevalently, it reflects game theory and can be seen as a prisoner’s dilemma. The players are the students looking for housing and the strategies are to sign quickly or wait and take your time and sign in the spring. The payoffs for everyone signing early are everyone gets housing, however, the price of apartments increases significantly and people get stressed and do not have time to “shop around”. If all players wait, everyone still gets housing, but prices are lower, and people are more relaxed and have extra time to tour apartments and make decisions. However, if one player waits and the other signs early, then the one who signs earlier gets a better choice of where to live, while the players who wait have to take the leftovers and no longer have all the options. So, just like in a prisoner’s dilemma, it is more beneficial for everyone to wait, but if everyone is waiting a few people may take advantage of this and start looking early, so they can get the better apartments. And this causes a ripple effect, because now it is more beneficial for everyone else to start looking early as well. In terms of game theory, the dominant strategy for all players is to start looking and signing leases early, even though it is better overall for everyone to wait leading to a Braess Paradox. In conclusion, the Ithaca Collegetown housing race is a prime example of a prisoner’s dilemma and Braess’s Paradox.