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Three Very Simple Games and What It Takes to Solve Them

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  • Ondrej Rydval
  • Andreas Ortmann
  • Michal Ostatnicky

Abstract

We study experimentally the nature of dominance violations in three minimalist dominance-solvable guessing games. Only about a third of our subjects report reasoning consistent with dominance; they all make dominant choices and almost all expect others to do so. Nearly two-thirds of subjects report reasoning inconsistent with dominance, yet a quarter of them actually make dominant choices and half of those expect others to do so. Reasoning errors are more likely for subjects with lower working memory, intrinsic motivation and premeditation attitude. Dominance-incompatible reasoning arises mainly from subjects misrepresenting the strategic nature (payoff structure) of the guessing games.

Suggested Citation

  • Ondrej Rydval & Andreas Ortmann & Michal Ostatnicky, 2009. "Three Very Simple Games and What It Takes to Solve Them," Post-Print hal-00699927, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00699927
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2009.05.011
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00699927
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    C72; C92; D83; Cognition; Bounded rationality; Belief; Guessing game; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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