Giaccherini, M. and G. Ponti
Games – 2018, 9, 50
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Abstract: We test the empirical content of the assumption of preference dependent beliefs using a behavioral model of strategic decision making in which the rankings of individuals over final outcomes in simple games influence their beliefs over the opponent’s behavior. This approach -by analogy with Psychological Game Theory- allows for interdependence between preferences and beliefs but reverses the order of causality. We use existing evidence from a multi-stage experiment in which we first elicit distributional preferences in a Random Dictator Game, then estimate beliefs in a related 2 × 2 effort game conditional on these preferences. Our structural estimations confirm our working hypothesis on how social preferences shape beliefs: subjects with
higher guilt (envy) expect others to put less (more) effort, which reduces the expected difference in payoffs.