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Public Choice (2007) 132: 353366 DOI 10.1007/s11127-007-9158-9
Asymmetric payoffs in simultaneous and sequential prisoners dilemma games
T.K. Ahn Myungsuk Lee Lore Ruttan James Walker
Received: 26 June 2006 / Accepted: 12 March 2007 / Published online: 28 April 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007
Abstract We investigate the role of payoff asymmetry in laboratory prisoners dilemma games. Symmetric and asymmetric games are examined in simultaneous and sequential settings. In the asymmetric sequential games, we study the impact of having payoff advantaged players moving either rst or second. Asymmetry reduces the rates of cooperation in simultaneous games. In sequential games, asymmetry interacts with order of play such that the rate of cooperation is highest when payoff disadvantaged players move rst.
Keywords Cooperation Prisoners dilemma Heterogeneity
1 Introduction
In one-shot prisoners dilemma (PD) games, the predicted outcome is mutual defection if one assumes that players are concerned only with maximizing their own monetary payoffs. This is true whether the game is played simultaneously or sequentially. Contrary to
T.K. AhnDepartment of Public Administration, Korea University, Anam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-701, South Koreae-mail: [email protected]
M. LeeGraduate School of Governance, Sung Kyun Kwan University, 53 Myeongrynn-dong 3-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-745, Koreae-mail: [email protected]
L. RuttanDepartment of Environmental Studies, Emory University, Math & Science Center, Suite E510, 400 Downian Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USAe-mail: [email protected]
J. Walker ( )
Department of Economics, Indiana University, Wylie Hall 105, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA e-mail: [email protected]
354 Public Choice (2007) 132: 353366
this prediction, experimental studies of PD games generally report a signicant proportion of cooperative choices. Beginning with the rst systematic experimental investigation of PD games by Rapoport and Chammah (1965), several factors have been identied as increasing cooperation: repetition and larger relative payoffs from mutual cooperation compared to mutual defection (Rapoport and Chammah 1965; Ahn et al. 2001), playing the game sequentially rather than simultaneously (Hayashi et al. 1999; Cho and Choi 2000; Clark and Sefton 2001; Ahn et al. 2003), decreasing social distance (Kollock 1998; Bohnet and Frey 1999), and pre-play communication (Andreoni and Varian 1999). In addition, when an exit option is included, players who choose not to exit tend to cooperate at higher levels (Orbell and Dawes 1993).
This study examines the extent to which payoff asymmetry affects individual choices in...