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The Effect of Payoff Tables on Experimental Oligopoly Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Gürerk, Özgür
  • Selten, Reinhard
Abstract
We explore the effects of the provision of an information-processing instrument - payoff tables - on behavior in experimental oligopolies. In one experimental setting, subjects have access to payoff tables whereas in the other setting they have not. It turns out that this minor variation in presentation has non-negligible effects on participants' behavior, particularly in the initial phase of the experiment. In the presence of payoff tables, subjects tend to be more cooperative. As a consequence, collusive behavior is more likely and quickly to occur.

Suggested Citation

  • Gürerk, Özgür & Selten, Reinhard, 2010. "The Effect of Payoff Tables on Experimental Oligopoly Behavior," MPRA Paper 22489, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:22489
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    10. Huck, Steffen & Normann, Hans-Theo & Oechssler, Jorg, 2004. "Two are few and four are many: number effects in experimental oligopolies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 435-446, April.
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    Cited by:

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    6. Axel Sonntag & Daniel John Zizzo, 2015. "Institutional authority and collusion," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(1), pages 13-37, July.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Collusion; Cournot oligopoly; payoff tables; bounded rationality; framing; presentation effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games

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