Ka. Mccabe et al., GAME-THEORY AND RECIPROCITY IN SOME EXTENSIVE FORM EXPERIMENTAL GAMES, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 93(23), 1996, pp. 13421-13428
We examine decision making in two-person extensive form game trees usi
ng nine treatments that vary matching protocol, payoffs, and payoff in
formation. Our objective is to establish replicable principles of coop
erative versus noncooperative behavior that involve the use of signali
ng, reciprocity, and backward induction strategies, depending on the a
vailability of dominated direct punishing strategies and the probabili
ty of repeated interaction with the same partner. Contrary to the pred
ictions of game theory, we find substantial support for cooperation un
der complete information even in various single-play treatments.