The Impact of Social Distance and Communication on Subjects’ Behavior in Ultimatum Games

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables

List of Abbreviations

1 Introduction

2 Theory
2.1 Ultimatum Game by Güth et al
2.1.1 Definition
2.1.2 The Framework of the Game
2.1.3 Predicted Subject Behavior
2.2 The Strategy Method

3 A Collection of Ultimatum Game Experiments
3.1 Experimental Results of Thirty Years of Research
3.2 Contradicting Material Opportunism
3.3 Subjects’ Reasoning in the Game
3.4 Subjects’ Motives for Contradicting Material Opportunism

4 The Impact of Social Distance on Subjects’ Behavior in Ultimatum Games
4.1 The Concept of Social Distance
4.1.1 The Term
4.1.2 Social Distance along Dimensions
4.2 Social Distance in the Ultimatum Game
4.2.1 A Procedure for Inducing Social Distance in Experimental Games
4.2.2 The Influence of Social Distance on Subjects’ Behavior

5 The Impact of Communication on Subjects’ Behavior in Ultimatum Games
5.1 The Concept of Communication
5.1.1 The Term
5.1.2 Decreased Social Distance Between Communicators
5.2 Communication in the Ultimatum Game
5.2.1 The Nature of Conversation between Subjects
5.2.2 The Impact of Pre-Play Communication on Subjects’ Behavior

6 Results and Discussion
6.1 Results
6.2 Discussion
6.2.1 Incentives Elicited by Social Distance Variations and Communication
6.2.2 Methodological Issues

7 Conclusion

References