<p>It seems that there is already some prior work on theory of gamification from game theory perspective. For example, <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2910575?casa_token=HlAe1kmrr90AAAAA:y27fTp6z-_xUgZ67lO2qlV8932-xoYmkcdAq_zUfdCyWXmCLAeBV2j9Sp-zAZm_UG94vtSHcQp7aJw" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Easley &amp; Ghosh (2016)</a>, provide theory on optimal badge design even explicitly mentioning sites like StackOverflow and their paper seems to be highly cited.  <a href="https://people.uta.fi/%7Ekljuham/2015-hamari_et_al-gamification_and_economics.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Hamari, Huotari &amp; Tolvanen (2015)</a> have article titled &quot;Gamification and economics&quot; which offers a survey of uses of gamification in various economic concepts. The paper itself does not seem to offer any novel models but it offers a literature review with a chapter specifically focusing on game theory.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-19T17:11:58.267Z
(+1) Thx, Arpita Ghosh indeed seems to have a bunch of relevant papers on the subject, like the JET with Patrick Hummel or papers with Preston McAfee (who always writes great stuff)! Let me leave the question open for a while as other may also want to chip in. I can accept your answer later.
Bayesian
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-19T17:19:36.997Z
@Bayesian glad that I could be of help, also of course please keep it open I am not expert on this issue hopefully someone can hook you up with even better sources
1muflon1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-19T16:53:49.350Z
2020-11-19T16:53:49.350Z
1muflon1
<p>Is there any (theoretical?) work on &quot;gamification&quot; in game theory?</p>
<p>I do not have a proper definition of gamification, but StackExchange would be an example. Contributers like us provide a costly service without monetary compensation, but in exchange for fictional reputation points or badges that do not mean much -- other than it being fun to obtain them. I certainly would not post anything without the &quot;game aspect&quot; implying a certain non-monetary payoff that can be designed.
Moreover, it is different than other non-monetary services like organizing workshops or refereeing, which at least have real-life consequences for my professional reputation.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-19T16:26:54.420Z
I am not an expert on game theory but just putting game theory and  gamification as key words in google scholar yields a lot of results many of them containing theoretical models. Are you looking for something specific?
1muflon1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-19T16:31:53.647Z
I would be happy about any approach. I did not see anything in (theoretical) economics journals about that.
Bayesian
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-19T16:33:26.047Z
For example, this was one of the top searches: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2910575?casa_token=9lfPXgDpepYAAAAA:p1ipd3vjN6sjcrSO3kLMNwfhqdKKoDgIrOYTIOyMINFiMGAJVM2vO5i8SqjohWOso0cpBVDxQmvE0Q - it even mentions stack overflow
1muflon1
<game-theory><reference-request><behavioral-economics><soft-question>
Gamification and incentives
Bayesian
# Gamification and incentives

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-11-19)

Is there any (theoretical?) work on "gamification" in game theory?

I do not have a proper definition of gamification, but StackExchange would be an example. Contributers like us provide a costly service without monetary compensation, but in exchange for fictional reputation points or badges that do not mean much -- other than it being fun to obtain them. I certainly would not post anything without the "game aspect" implying a certain non-monetary payoff that can be designed.
Moreover, it is different than other non-monetary services like organizing workshops or refereeing, which at least have real-life consequences for my professional reputation.

**Tags:** game-theory, reference-request, behavioral-economics, soft-question

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I am not an expert on game theory but just putting game theory and  gamification as key words in google scholar yields a lot of results many of them containing theoretical models. Are you looking for something specific?  
> **username_0**: I would be happy about any approach. I did not see anything in (theoretical) economics journals about that.  
> **username_1**: For example, this was one of the top searches: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2910575?casa_token=9lfPXgDpepYAAAAA:p1ipd3vjN6sjcrSO3kLMNwfhqdKKoDgIrOYTIOyMINFiMGAJVM2vO5i8SqjohWOso0cpBVDxQmvE0Q - it even mentions stack overflow  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-11-19. Score: 2

It seems that there is already some prior work on theory of gamification from game theory perspective. For example, [Easley & Ghosh (2016)](https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2910575?casa_token=HlAe1kmrr90AAAAA:y27fTp6z-_xUgZ67lO2qlV8932-xoYmkcdAq_zUfdCyWXmCLAeBV2j9Sp-zAZm_UG94vtSHcQp7aJw), provide theory on optimal badge design even explicitly mentioning sites like StackOverflow and their paper seems to be highly cited. [Hamari, Huotari & Tolvanen (2015)](https://people.uta.fi/%7Ekljuham/2015-hamari_et_al-gamification_and_economics.pdf) have article titled "Gamification and economics" which offers a survey of uses of gamification in various economic concepts. The paper itself does not seem to offer any novel models but it offers a literature review with a chapter specifically focusing on game theory.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: (+1) Thx, Arpita Ghosh indeed seems to have a bunch of relevant papers on the subject, like the JET with Patrick Hummel or papers with Preston McAfee (who always writes great stuff)! Let me leave the question open for a while as other may also want to chip in. I can accept your answer later.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 glad that I could be of help, also of course please keep it open I am not expert on this issue hopefully someone can hook you up with even better sources  

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