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Do Arabian babblers play mixed strategies in a “volunteer’s dilemma”?

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  • Heifetz, Aviad
  • Heller, Ruth
  • Ostreiher, Roni

Abstract

When group-living Arabian babbler songbirds hear a sentinel alarm call that indicates a raptor approach, they should instantaneously choose whether to flee to shelter, or rather to expose themselves while calling towards the raptor to communicate to it its detection. If enough group members thus signal to the raptor their vigilance, the raptor is likely to be dissuaded from attacking the group. Groupmates thus engage in a variant of the “volunteer’s dilemma” game (Diekmann, 1985), whose symmetric equilibrium is in mixed strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Heifetz, Aviad & Heller, Ruth & Ostreiher, Roni, 2021. "Do Arabian babblers play mixed strategies in a “volunteer’s dilemma”?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:91:y:2021:i:c:s221480432100001x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2021.101661
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Peña, Jorge & Heifetz, Aviad & Nöldeke, Georg, 2023. "The shirker’s dilemma and the prospect of cooperation in large groups," IAST Working Papers 23-152, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST), revised Oct 2023.

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