The role of envy in ultimatum games *
نویسنده
چکیده
The behaviour of subjects in ultimatum bargaining experiments is very different from that predicted by standard theory. These ‘anomalies’ are frequently explained by fairness considerations. In this paper we consider the possibility that the subjects are simply envious. We derive the implications of envy for the behaviour in ultimatum games and it will be shown that envy is a potential explanation for the most important experimental ‘anomalies’. This points toward the need to set up experiments which allow to discriminate between fairnessand envy-motivated behaviour. JEL classification: C92; C91; C72; C78
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