Paradigmatic Experiments

The Ultimatum Game from Testing to Measurement Device

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10708024
AutoresFrancesco Guala (0000-0002-6252-2264, University of Exeter, autor de correspondencia)
Año2008
Volumen75
Número5
Páginas658-669
Fecha de publicación2008-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPhilosophy of Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0031-8248 • E-ISSN: 1539-767X
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1086/594512
OpenAlexW2091943087
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas15
Referencias citadas11

The Ultimatum Game is one of the most successful experimental designs in the history of the social sciences. In this article I try to explain this success—what makes it a “paradigmatic experiment”—stressing in particular its versatility. Despite the intentions of its inventors, the Ultimatum Game was never a good design to test economic theory, and it is now mostly used as a heuristic tool for the observation of nonstandard preferences or as a “social thermometer” for the observation of culture-specific norms

Economics · Experimental economics · Game theory · Heuristic · Mathematical economics · Positive economics · Sociology · Test (biology) · Ultimatum game · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Philosophy and History of Science · Psychology · Social Psychology