Internet Cautions: Experimental Games with Internet Partners

Abstract:     
We report the results of experiments conducted over the internet between two different laboratories. Each subject at one site is matched with a subject at another site in a trust game experiment. We investigate whether subjects believe they are really matched with another person, and suggest a methodology for ensuring that subjects’ beliefs are accurate. Results show that skepticism can lead to misleading results. If subjects do not believe they are matched with a real person, they trust too much: i.e., they trust the experimenter rather than their partner.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 14

Keywords: Methodology, Experiment, Trust Game, Beliefs, Internet

JEL Classification: C9

Accepted Paper Series