Implicit vs. explicit deception in ultimatum games with incomplete information

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Year: 2013
Volume: 93
Issue: C
Pages: 337-346

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We explore bargaining, using ultimatum games, when one party, the proposer, possesses private information about the pie size and can either misrepresent this information through untruthful statements (explicit deception) or through information-revealing actions (implicit deception). Our study is the first such direct comparison between two ways in which people can deceive. We find that requiring informed parties to make an explicit statement yields greater deception than when information is communicated implicitly, particularly for larger stakes. However, allowing the explicit statement to be accompanied by a promise of truthfulness reverses this effect. In contrast with many previous studies, we generally observe very high frequencies of dishonesty.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jeborg:v:93:y:2013:i:c:p:337-346
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-26