Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T11:10:33.906Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reciprocity and uncertainty

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2012

Yoella Bereby-Meyer
Yoella Bereby-Meyer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Guala points to a discrepancy between strong negative reciprocity observed in the lab and the way cooperation is sustained “in the wild.” This commentary suggests that in lab experiments, strong negative reciprocity is limited when uncertainty exists regarding the players' actions and the intentions. Thus, costly punishment is indeed a limited mechanism for sustaining cooperation in an uncertain environment.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , February 2012 , pp. 18 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Axelrod, R. (1984) The evolution of cooperation. Basic Books.Google Scholar
Axelrod, R. & Dion, D. (1988) The further evolution of cooperation. Science 242(4884):1385–90.Google Scholar
Bendor, J. (1993) Uncertainty and the evolution of cooperation. Journal of Conflict Resolution 37(4):709.Google Scholar
Bereby-Meyer, Y. & Roth, A. E. (2006) The speed of learning in noisy games: Partial reinforcement and the sustainability of cooperation. American Economic Review 96(4):1029–42.Google Scholar
Camerer, C. (2003) Behavioral game theory: Experiments in strategic interaction. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Croson, R. T. A. (1996) Information in ultimatum games: An experimental study. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 30(2):197–212.Google Scholar
Fehr, E. & Gächter, S. (2000b) Fairness and retaliation: The economics of reciprocity. Journal of Economic Perspectives 14(3):159–81.Google Scholar
Fehr, E. & Gintis, H. (2007) Human motivation and social cooperation: Experimental and analytical foundations. Annual Review of Sociology 33:43–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gehrig, T., Güth, W., Levati, V., Levinsky, R., Ockenfels, A. & Uske, T. (2007) Buying a pig in a poke: An experimental study of unconditional veto power. Journal of Economic Psychology 28(6):692–703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, E. J. & Porter, R. H. (1984) Noncooperative collusion under imperfect price information. Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society 52(1) 87–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Güth, W., Schmittberger, R. & Schwarze, B. (1982) An experimental analysis of ultimatum Bargaining. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 3(4):367–88. Available at: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0167268182900117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kunreuther, H., Silvasi, G., Bradlow, E. T. & Small, D. (2009) Deterministic and stochastic prisoner's dilemma games: Experiments in interdependent security. Judgment and Decision Making 4(5):363–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Messick, D. M., Allison, S. T. & Samuelson, C. D. (1988) Framing and communication effects on group members' responses to environmental and social uncertainty. In: Applied behavioral economics, ed. Maital, S., pp. 677–700. New York University Press.Google Scholar
Mitzkewitz, M. & Nagel, R. (1993) Experimental results on ultimatum games with incomplete information. International Journal of Game Theory 22(2):171–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabin, M. (1993) Incorporating fairness into game theory and economics. American Economic Review 83(5):1281–302.Google Scholar
Rapoport, A., Sundali, J. A. & Seale, D. A. (1996) Ultimatums in two-person bargaining with one-sided uncertainty: Demand games. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 30(2):173–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sainty, B. (1999) Achieving greater cooperation in a noisy prisoner's dilemma: An experimental investigation. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 39(4):421–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar