0 present participle of defect
1 to leave a country, political party, etc., especially in order to join an opposing one:
For subjects of both rank types, the higher the expectation of defection, the higher the probability of defecting.
The terminal condition incorporates the fact that once discovered, a defecting banker is punished with autarky forever.
For both players, defecting is the dominant strategy and therefore always the best reply toward any strategy of the opponent.
Moreover, strategically defecting from strong candidates entails a risk.
In particular, defection by a merchant is punished by having the defecting merchant get the payoff from autarky, which is zero.
This is different, if the player using a reward option has been defecting in the first stage.
They are the same for all states, because defecting bankers have the flexibility to represent the state that provides the highest period utility.
As expectations of defection rise, the proportion of would-be co-operators defecting also rises.