Investigating the Failure to Best Respond in Experimental Games

Abstract

In experimental games, a substantial minority of players often fail to best respond. Using two-person 3x3 one-shot games, we investigate whether ‘structuring’ the pre-decision deliberation process produces greater consistency between individuals’ stated values and beliefs on the one hand and their choice of action on the other. Our results show that, despite this intervention, only just over half of strategy choices constitute best responses. Distinguishing between players according to their other-regarding preferences makes a statistically significant difference, but the increase in best responding is rather small in terms of size.

Keywords: game theory, best response, strategic thinking, social preferences, stated beliefs

JEL Classification: A13, C72, C91, C92, D84