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Cultural differences between Tibetans and ethnic Han Chinese in ultimatum bargaining experiments

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  • Chen, Kang
  • Tang, Fang-Fang

Abstract

We compare ultimatum bargaining behaviour between Tibetans in Lhasa and ethnic Han Chinese in Xiamen with a focus on identifying how cultural traits and religious beliefs affect behaviour. A control group in Singapore was used to account for possible non-cultural explanations for the observed behavioural differences. It was found that, compared to Han Chinese, Tibetans are more likely to accept offers in the ultimatum game and that their decisions are unrelated to the actual offer size.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Kang & Tang, Fang-Fang, 2009. "Cultural differences between Tibetans and ethnic Han Chinese in ultimatum bargaining experiments," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 78-84, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:25:y:2009:i:1:p:78-84
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    6. Staffiero, Gianandrea & Exadaktylos, Filippos & Espín, Antonio M., 2013. "Accepting zero in the ultimatum game does not reflect selfish preferences," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 236-238.
    7. Griffin, John & Nickerson, David & Wozniak, Abigail, 2012. "Racial differences in inequality aversion: Evidence from real world respondents in the ultimatum game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 600-617.
    8. Güth, Werner & Kocher, Martin G., 2014. "More than thirty years of ultimatum bargaining experiments: Motives, variations, and a survey of the recent literature," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 396-409.
    9. repec:cup:judgdm:v:4:y:2009:i:3:p:214-226 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Jiang, Shuguang & Wei, Qian, 2022. "Confucian culture, moral reminder, and soft corruption," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    11. Charness, Gary & Kuhn, Peter, 2011. "Lab Labor: What Can Labor Economists Learn from the Lab?," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 3, pages 229-330, Elsevier.
    12. Shuwen Li & Xiangdong Qin & Daniel Houser, 2018. "Revisiting gender differences in ultimatum bargaining: experimental evidence from the US and China," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 4(2), pages 180-190, December.
    13. Zhang, Zhe & Zhang, Xu & Putterman, Louis, 2019. "Trust and cooperation at a confluence of worlds: An experiment in Xinjiang, China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 128-144.
    14. Lina Lozano & Arno Riedl & Christina Rott, 2024. "The Impact of the Menstrual Cycle on Bargaining Behavior," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-009/I, Tinbergen Institute.
    15. Calvin Blackwell & Michael McKee, 2010. "Is There a Bias Toward Contributing to Local Public Goods? Cultural Effects," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 243-257, January.
    16. Horak, Sven, 2013. "Cross-cultural experimental economics and indigenous management research: Issues and contributions," Working Papers on East Asian Studies 92/2013, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute of East Asian Studies IN-EAST.
    17. Gianandrea Staffiero & Filippos Exadaktylos & Antonio M. Espín, 2013. "Accepting Zero in the Ultimatum Game: Selfish Nash Response?," ThE Papers 13/01, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    18. Hillman, Arye L., 2010. "Expressive behavior in economics and politics," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 403-418, December.
    19. Yue Gao, 2009. "A study of fairness judgments in China, Switzerland and Canada: Do culture, being a student, and gender matter?," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 4(3), pages 214-226, April.

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