This Experiment
Decisions
Examples
Pairing Players
What if I forget?

This Experiment

In this experiment there will be a total of 20 participants.

Half of the people in this experiment will play the role of Proposers and the other half will be Responders. At the end of the instructions you will find out which role you are assigned. Your role will be the same throughout the experiment.

Each day in the experiment you will make a new decision that will determine the division of 100 tokens between a single Proposer and a single Responder. Each token you earn each day is worth 5 cents. For example, if the Proposer gets 30 tokens and the Responder gets 70, then the Proposer will earn $1.50 (i.e. 30 x 0.05) and the Responder will earn $3.50 (i.e. 70 x 0.05).

Your earnings each round will accumulate toward your total monetary payoff. The experiment lasts for ten days, and one round is played each day.

Next we describe the decisions both the Proposers and Responders must make. Pay close attention to what both players must choose, since you will need to understand both roles in order to make good decisions.

Decisions

IMPORTANT: Both the Proposers and Responders must make their decisions without knowing what any other participant in the experiment will decide.

Proposers will propose a split of 100 tokens. The Responder will either accept or reject the proposal. If the proposal is rejected, both participants earn no tokens.

The Proposer's decision page looks like this:

Proposer's Decision:
Divide 100 tokens.

I propose to hold tokens, and pass tokens to the Responder.
(Hold and Pass tokens must sum to 100.)

The Proposers must select a number between 0 and 100 to pass to the Responders. They must do this without knowing what the Responders have decided.

The Responder's decision page looks like this:

Responder's Decision:

I will accept any proposal that passes at least tokens to me, and I will reject all others.
If I reject the proposal, both the Proposer and I will get zero tokens.

As you can see, the Responders will not necessarily accept all proposals made by the Proposer. Here are a couple of examples to help understand how payoffs are calculated:

Example 1:

Suppose the Proposer makes this decision:

Proposer's Decision:
Divide 100 tokens.

I propose to hold tokens, and pass tokens to the Responder.
(Hold and Pass tokens must sum to 100.)

At the same time, the Responder enters this decision:

Responder's Decision:

I will accept any proposal that passes at least tokens to me, and I will reject all others.
If I reject the proposal, both the Proposer and I will get zero tokens.

Since 67 is greater than 6, the offer is accepted and the Proposer gets 33 tokens and the Responder gets 67.

Example 2:

Suppose the Proposer makes this decision:

Proposer's Decision:
Divide 100 tokens.

I propose to hold tokens, and pass tokens to the Responder.
(Hold and Pass tokens must sum to 100.)

At the same time, the Responder enters this decision:

Responder's Decision:

I will accept any proposal that passes at least tokens to me, and I will reject all others.
If I reject the proposal, both the Proposer and I will get zero tokens.

Since 8 is less than 55, the offer is rejected and both participants get no tokens.

Random Matching

For each decision you will be paired with one other player. The tokens that you earn as a result of that match will be deposited into your Tokens Account.

Who the other player is will change randomly from round to round. You will not be able to predict which other player you meet at any time.

Earning Money

The tokens you earn each day will accumulate in your Token Account. At the end of the experiment the total tokens in your Token Account will be multiplied by $0.05, and a check for that amount will be sent to the address you gave at registration. For instance, if you have 500 tokens in your token account, you will earn $25.

One Decision Per Day

You are required to enter a new decision every day. Once you enter a decision you may revise it any time until 2 a.m.

You must log in every day to enter a decision, even if your decision does not change!

Notification

Every day you will receive an email that will report the results of your decision for the prior day. After reading that email you can log on again any time until 2 a.m. to enter your new decision.

What if I Forget?

If you forget to enter a decision, your decision from the prior day will be used again, BUT we will also charge you the FORGETTING FEE of $5.00.

So, every time you forget to enter a decision, your final earnings will be reduced by 5.00.

Your Privacy

No one in the experiment will be able to identify you during or after the experiment. Your name will never be revealed to anyone during or after the experiment. Only the accountant who will mail you a check at the end of the experiment will see your name.

Most important, no one in the experiment will be able to identify you during or after the experiment.

DON'T FORGET! LOG IN EVERY DAY!

Remember the Past

You may review the history of your results at any time simply by clicking the "History" link.

Your Role

You have already been assigned a role in the experiment. You will play the same role for every decision of the experiment.

This concludes the instructions. You may review them any time during the experiment simply by clicking on INSTRUCTIONS.

Now you may find out your role, either Proposer or Responder, by clicking here: YOUR ROLE