10.09.2026, 3sat
The documentary discusses to what extent game theory can help to understand and solve cooperation problems, from everyday life to international politics, including situations in which machines rather than people take part in negotiations.
Axel Ockenfels shows how game-theoretic research can feed into concrete legislation, using the kidney crossover donation adopted by the German Bundestag in March 2026, which he helped draft and which addresses the problem of incompatible donor-recipient pairs. He also illustrates why international climate cooperation has the structure of a prisoner's dilemma, leaving agreements such as the Paris Agreement unstable.