When are complements and substitutes dual?

For binary-action games on bipartite networks, strategic complements and strategic substitutes are one and the same: each can be transformed into the other by relabelling the actions of every player on exactly one side. In this note, I show that bipartiteness is necessary and sufficient for such a relabelling; as a consequence, bipartite networks are precisely those on which every binary-action game with strategic substitutes must have a pure-strategy Nash equilibrium.

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Publication Details

Journal
arXiv (Cornell University)
Published
2026-10-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2610.39844
Primary Topic
Game Theory and Applications
Type
preprint
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preprint

When are complements and substitutes dual?

Philip Ruane Neary
arXiv (Cornell University)
Game Theory and Applications
preprint

When are complements and substitutes dual?

Philip Ruane Neary
preprint en

Abstract

For binary-action games on bipartite networks, strategic complements and strategic substitutes are one and the same: each can be transformed into the other by relabelling the actions of every player on exactly one side. In this note, I show that bipartiteness is necessary and sufficient for such a relabelling; as a consequence, bipartite networks are precisely those on which every binary-action game with strategic substitutes must have a pure-strategy Nash equilibrium.

arXiv (Cornell University)
Game Theory and Applications
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When are complements and substitutes dual? — Philip Ruane Neary · arXiv (Cornell University) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS