Inequality Aversion and Reciprocity in Moonlighting Games
We study behavior in a moonlighting game with unequal initial endowments. In this game, predictions for second-mover behavior based on inequality aversion are in contrast to reciprocity. We find that inequality aversion explains only few observations. The comparison to a treatment with equal endowme...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2010-10-01
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| Series: | Games |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/1/4/459/ |
| _version_ | 1811334622286446592 |
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| author | Dirk Engelmann Martin Strobel |
| author_facet | Dirk Engelmann Martin Strobel |
| author_sort | Dirk Engelmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We study behavior in a moonlighting game with unequal initial endowments. In this game, predictions for second-mover behavior based on inequality aversion are in contrast to reciprocity. We find that inequality aversion explains only few observations. The comparison to a treatment with equal endowments supports the conclusion that behavior is better captured by intuitive notions of reciprocity than by inequality aversion. Extending the model by allowing for alternative reference points promises better performance, but leads to other problems. We conclude that the fact that inequality aversion often works as a good short-hand for reciprocity is driven by biased design choices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:11:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-53d8543577c240f19a603346452ff5e6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:11:48Z |
| publishDate | 2010-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Games |
| spelling | doaj.art-53d8543577c240f19a603346452ff5e62022-12-22T02:38:16ZengMDPI AGGames2073-43362010-10-011445947710.3390/g1040459Inequality Aversion and Reciprocity in Moonlighting GamesDirk EngelmannMartin StrobelWe study behavior in a moonlighting game with unequal initial endowments. In this game, predictions for second-mover behavior based on inequality aversion are in contrast to reciprocity. We find that inequality aversion explains only few observations. The comparison to a treatment with equal endowments supports the conclusion that behavior is better captured by intuitive notions of reciprocity than by inequality aversion. Extending the model by allowing for alternative reference points promises better performance, but leads to other problems. We conclude that the fact that inequality aversion often works as a good short-hand for reciprocity is driven by biased design choices.http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/1/4/459/reciprocityinequality aversionaltruismmoonlighting game |
| spellingShingle | Dirk Engelmann Martin Strobel Inequality Aversion and Reciprocity in Moonlighting Games Games reciprocity inequality aversion altruism moonlighting game |
| title | Inequality Aversion and Reciprocity in Moonlighting Games |
| title_full | Inequality Aversion and Reciprocity in Moonlighting Games |
| title_fullStr | Inequality Aversion and Reciprocity in Moonlighting Games |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inequality Aversion and Reciprocity in Moonlighting Games |
| title_short | Inequality Aversion and Reciprocity in Moonlighting Games |
| title_sort | inequality aversion and reciprocity in moonlighting games |
| topic | reciprocity inequality aversion altruism moonlighting game |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/1/4/459/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dirkengelmann inequalityaversionandreciprocityinmoonlightinggames AT martinstrobel inequalityaversionandreciprocityinmoonlightinggames |