Trust game
Published:
The trust game is similar to the dictator game, but with an added first step. In the trust game, one participant first decides how much of an endowment to give to the second participant, and this amount is typically multiplied by the researchers. Then the second participant (now acting as a dictator) decides how much of this increased endowment to allocate to the first participant. Thus the dictator’s partner must decide how much of the initial endowment to trust with the dictator (in the hopes of receiving the same amount or more in return). The experiments rarely end in the subgame perfect Nash equilibrium of “no trust”. In fact, a recent pair of studies of identical and fraternal twins in the USA and Sweden suggests that behavior in this game is heritable.
See also
Game Theory, Ultimatum game, Prisoner’s dilemma, Neuroeconomics, Public goods game, Dictator game
Papers
- Cesarini, David; Christopher T. Dawes; James H. Fowler; Magnus Johannesson; Paul Lichtenstein; Björn Wallace (11 March 2008). Heritability of cooperative behavior in the trust game. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (10): 3721-3726