DO PEOPLE RELY ON THE SELF-INTERESTED MAXIMIZATION OF OTHERS - AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST

The assumption that agents engage in maximizing behavior, while ubiqui tous in economic theory, differs from the assumption that agents are w illing to rely on the maximizing behavior of others. This paper offers an empirical examination of this distinction using experimental metho ds. Utilizing a series of experimental treatments based on a simple, t wo player extensive form game of perfect information, we find strong e vidence that apparently rational people are often unwilling to rely on the self-interested behavior of others, despite the observed near uni versality of maximizing play.