Communication, commitment, and deception in social dilemmas: experimental evidence

Arbeitspapier

Social norms of cooperation are studied under several forms of communication. In an experiment, strangers could make public statements before playing a prisoner's dilemma. The interaction was repeated indefinitely, which generated multiple equilibria. Communication could be used as a tool to either signal intentions to coordinate on Pareto-superior outcomes, to deceive others, or to credibly commit to actions. Some forms of communication did not promote the incidence of efficient Nash play, and sometimes reduced it. Surprisingly, cooperation suffered when subjects could publicly commit to actions.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Quaderni - Working Paper DSE ; No. 751

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Game Theory and Bargaining Theory: General ; Design of Experiments: General ; Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty: General

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Camera, Gabriele ; Casari, Marco ; Bigoni, Maria
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche (DSE)
• (where): Bologna
• (when): 2011

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.6092/unibo/amsacta/4489
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/159592
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET