Experimental results on ultimatum games with incomplete information

This paper is about experiments on two versions of ultimatum games with incomplete information, called the offer game and the demand game. The authors apply the strategy method, that is, each subject had to design a complete strategy in advance instead of reacting spontaneously to a situation which occurs in the game. Game theory predicts very similar outcomes for the offer and the demand games. The present experiments, however, show significant differences in behavior between both games. Using the strategy method, allow the authors to explore the motivations leading to those differences. Since each subject played the same version of the game eight rounds against changing anonymous opponents they can also study subjects’ learning behavior. The authors propose a theory of boundedly rational behavior, called the ‘anticipation philosophy’, which is well supported by the experimental data.