Are groups more rational, more competitive or more prosocial bargainers?

Arbeitspapier

In reality, it is often groups rather than individuals that make decisions. In previous experiments, groups have frequently been shown to act differently from individuals in several ways. It has been claimed that inter-group interactions may be (1) more competitive, (2) more rational, or (3) more prosocial than inter-individual interactions. While some of these observed differences may be due to differences in the experimental designs, it is still not clear which of the three motivations is prevailing as they have often been behaviorally confounded in previous experiments. We use Rubinstein's alternating offers bargaining game to compare inter-individual with inter-group behavior since it allows separating the predictions of competitive, rational and prosocial behavior. We find that groups are, on average, more rational bargainers than individuals.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Jena Economic Research Papers ; No. 2012,048

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory ; Analysis of Collective Decision-Making: General
• Subject: alternating offers bargaining experiment ; inter-group behavior ; inter-individual behavior ; Gruppenentscheidung ; Verhaltensökonomik ; Verhandlungstheorie ; Test

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Vollstädt, Ulrike ; Böhm, Robert
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Max Planck Institute of Economics
• (where): Jena
• (when): 2012

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/70164
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET