Working Paper: NBER ID: w12097
Authors: John A. List
Abstract: This study examines data drawn from the game show Friend or Foe?, which is similar to the classic prisoner's dilemma tale: partnerships are endogenously determined, players work together to earn money, after which, they play a one-shot prisoner's dilemma game over large stakes: varying from $200 to (potentially) more than $22,000. If one were to conduct such an experiment in the laboratory, the cost to gather the data would be well over $350,000. The data reveal several interesting insights; perhaps most provocatively, they suggest that even though the game is played in front of an audience of millions of viewers, there is some evidence consistent with a model of discrimination. The observed patterns of social discrimination are unanticipated, however. For example, there is evidence consistent with the notion that certain populations have a general "distaste" for older participants.
Keywords: Prisoners Dilemma; Cooperation; Game Theory; Social Discrimination
JEL Codes: C9; C72
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| structure of the game (C73) | participant behavior (C92) |
| stakes (L83) | cooperation rates (C71) |
| age (J14) | cooperation rates (C71) |
| partner selection (C78) | cooperation rates (C71) |
| age (J14) | partner selection (C78) |
| being paired with a white or older partner (J79) | expected earnings (G17) |