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Power and fairness in a generalized ultimatum game
Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia1, Sergi Lozano2, Dirk Helbing3
1Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research, School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America.
Bargaining power does not alter social preferences in economic games. However, power significantly influences offers and acceptance rates, suggesting power
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Social Psychology
- Game Theory
Background:
- Power is a key determinant of social influence and behavior.
- The role of power in shaping social preferences during bargaining remains underexplored.
- Social preferences are crucial for explaining behavior in experimental settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of bargaining power on social preferences within a Generalized Ultimatum Game (GUG).
- To analyze how power imbalances affect offers and acceptance rates in bargaining scenarios.
- To determine if social preferences are invariant to power dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Modification of the standard Ultimatum Game (UG) payoff structure.
- Experimental design involving three power balance situations: against proposer, against responder, and balanced.
- Measurement of other-regarding preferences through participant donations.
Main Results:
- Other-regarding preferences, indicated by donations, remained constant regardless of power levels.
- Bargaining power systematically altered offers made and acceptance rates.
- Unusually high acceptance rates were observed for lower offers, even in power-imbalanced situations.
Conclusions:
- Social preferences appear to be invariant to the balance of bargaining power.
- Power dynamics significantly influence strategic behavior (offers and acceptances) in bargaining.
- Further research is warranted to fully understand the multifaceted role of power in human behavior.
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