Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-probability-statistics-and-options-ii-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2008/t/2/a/ii/solution

Strictly positive entries imply . If is an optimal strategy, set . Then and . Conversely, a nonzero feasible with gives a strategy satisfying . Thus , or . The optimal objective is therefore , and
A nonzero feasible point exists by taking a sufficiently small positive multiple of a probability vector, and positivity of bounds the feasible objective, so the optimum is attained.
For general entries choose a constant so that is strictly positive. Every pair of strategies has its payoff increased by exactly , so optimal strategies are unchanged. Solve the positive problem for , recover , and then for the original game.

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