Hostname: page-component-7b9c58cd5d-hpxsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-03-16T16:20:27.568Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Why did he do that? Using counterfactuals to study the effect of intentions in extensive form games

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Yola Engler ,
Rudolf Kerschbamer  and
Lionel Page Open the ORCID record for Lionel Page [Opens in a new window]
Yola Engler*
Affiliation:
School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street Brisbane, Australia
Rudolf Kerschbamer*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Innsbruck, Universitaetsstrasse 15 Innsbruck, Australia
Lionel Page*
Affiliation:
School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street Brisbane, Australia
*
yolaengler@gmail.com
rudolf.kerschbamer@uibk.ac.at
lionel.page@qut.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We investigate the role of intentions in two-player two-stage games. For this purpose we systematically vary the set of opportunity sets the first mover can choose from and study how the second mover reacts not only to opportunities of gains but also of losses created by the choice of the first mover. We find that the possibility of gains for the second mover (generosity) and the risk of losses for the first mover (vulnerability) are important drivers for second mover behavior. On the other hand, efficiency concerns and an aversion against violating trust seem to be far less important motivations. We also find that second movers compare the actual choice of the first mover and the alternative choices that would have been available to him to allocations that involve equal material payoffs.

Keywords

Social preferencesOther-regarding preferencesIntentionsReciprocityTrust gameExperimental economicsBehavioral economics

JEL classification

D63: Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement D64: Altruism • Philanthropy • Intergenerational Transfers C91: Laboratory, Individual Behavior C92: Laboratory, Group Behavior
Type
Original Paper
Information
Experimental Economics , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 1 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 Economic Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-017-9522-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

References

Andreoni, J, & Bernheim, BD (2009). Social image and the 50–50 norm: A theoretical and experimental analysis of audience effects. Econometrica, 77(5), 1607–1636. 10.3982/ECTA7384Google Scholar
Andreoni, J, & Miller, J (2002). Giving according to GARP: An experimental test of the consistency of preferences for altruism. Econometrica, 70(2), 737–753. 10.1111/1468-0262.00302CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashraf, N, Bohnet, I, & Piankov, N (2006). Decomposing trust and trustworthiness. Experimental Economics, 9(3), 193–208. 10.1007/s10683-006-9122-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bardsley, N (2008). Dictator game giving: Altruism or artefact?. Experimental Economics, 11(2), 122–133. 10.1007/s10683-007-9172-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berg, J, Dickhaut, J, & McCabe, K (1995). Trust, reciprocity, and social history. Games and Economic Behavior, 10(1), 122–142. 10.1006/game.1995.1027CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolton, GE, & Ockenfels, A (2000). ERC: A theory of equity, reciprocity, and competition. American Economic Review, 90(1), 166–193. 10.1257/aer.90.1.166CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brandts, J, & Charness, G (2011). The strategy versus the direct-response method: A first survey of experimental comparisons. Experimental Economics, 14(3), 375–398. 10.1007/s10683-011-9272-xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charness, G, & Rabin, M (2002). Understanding social preferences with simple tests. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(3), 817–869. 10.1162/003355302760193904CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaudhuri, A, & Gangadharan, L (2007). An experimental analysis of trust and trustworthiness. Southern Economic Journal, 73(4), 959–985.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, JC (2004). How to identify trust and reciprocity. Games and Economic Behavior, 46(2), 260–281. 10.1016/S0899-8256(03)00119-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, JC, & Sadiraj, V (2007). On modeling voluntary contributions to public goods. Public Finance Review, 35(2), 311–332. 10.1177/1091142106295756CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, JC, & Sadiraj, V (2012). Direct tests of individual preferences for efficiency and equity. Economic Inquiry, 50(4), 920–931. 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2010.00336.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, JC, Friedman, D, & Gjerstad, S (2007). A tractable model of reciprocity and fairness. Games and Economic Behavior, 59(1), 17–45. 10.1016/j.geb.2006.05.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, JC, Sadiraj, K, & Sadiraj, V (2008). Implications of trust, fear, and reciprocity for modeling economic behavior. Experimental Economics, 11(1), 1–24. 10.1007/s10683-006-9156-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, JC, Friedman, D, & Sadiraj, V (2008). Revealed altruism. Econometrica, 76(1), 31–69. 10.1111/j.0012-9682.2008.00817.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, JC, Kerschbamer, R, & Neururer, D (2016). What is trustworthiness and what drives it?. Games and Economic Behavior, 98, 197–218. 10.1016/j.geb.2016.05.008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dufwenberg, M, & Kirchsteiger, G (2004). A theory of sequential reciprocity. Games and Economic Behavior, 47(2), 268–298. 10.1016/j.geb.2003.06.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engelmann, D, & Strobel, M (2004). Inequality aversion, efficiency, and maximin preferences in simple distribution experiments. American Economic Review, 94(4), 857–869. 10.1257/0002828042002741CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falk, A, & Kosfeld, M (2006). The hidden costs of control. The American Economic Review, 96(5), 1611–1630. 10.1257/aer.96.5.1611CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fehr, E, & Gächter, S (2000). Fairness and retaliation: The economics of reciprocity. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3), 159–181. 10.1257/jep.14.3.159CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fehr, E, & Schmidt, KM (1999). A theory of fairness, competition, and cooperation. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(3), 817–868. 10.1162/003355399556151CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fehr, E, Naef, M, & Schmidt, KM (2006). Inequality aversion, efficiency, and maximin preferences in simple distribution experiments: Comment. The American Economic Review, 96(5), 1912–1917. 10.1257/aer.96.5.1912CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisman, R, Kariv, S, & Markovits, D (2007). Individual preferences for giving. The American Economic Review, 97(5), 1858–1876. 10.1257/aer.97.5.1858CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greiner, B (2015). Subject pool recruitment procedures: Organizing experiments with ORSEE. Journal of the Economic Science Association, 1(1), 1–12. 10.1007/s40881-015-0004-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krupka, EL, & Weber, RA (2013). Identifying social norms using coordination games: Why does dictator game sharing vary?. Journal of the European Economic Association, 11(3), 495–524. 10.1111/jeea.12006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levine, DK (1998). Modeling altruism and spitefulness in experiments. Review of Economic Dynamics, 1(3), 593–622. 10.1006/redy.1998.0023CrossRefGoogle Scholar
List, JA (2007). On the interpretation of giving in dictator games. Journal of Political Economy, 115(3), 482–493. 10.1086/519249CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCabe, KA, Rigdon, ML, & Smith, VL (2003). Positive reciprocity and intentions in trust games. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 52(2), 267–275. 10.1016/S0167-2681(03)00003-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabin, M (1993). Incorporating fairness into game theory and economics. The American Economic Review, 83(5), 1281–1302.Google Scholar
Train, K (2009). Discrete choice methods with simulation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 10.1017/CBO9780511805271Google Scholar
Wilcox, NT (2008). Stochastic models for binary discrete choice under risk: A critical primer and econometric comparison. Research in Experimental Economics, 12, 197–292. 10.1016/S0193-2306(08)00004-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zizzo, DJ (2010). Experimenter demand effects in economic experiments. Experimental Economics, 13(1), 75–98. 10.1007/s10683-009-9230-zCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Engler et al. supplementary material

Engler et al. supplementary material
Download Engler et al. supplementary material(File)
File 221.6 KB