Using turn taking to achieve intertemporal coopera

Authors: SauHim Paul Lau VaiLam Mui

Publish Date: 2011/04/10

Volume: 72, Issue: 2, Pages: 167-188

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Abstract

Turn taking is observed in many field and laboratory settings captured by various widely studied 2 × 2 games This article develops a repeated game model that allows us to systematically investigate turntaking behavior in many 2 × 2 games including the battle of the sexes the game of chicken the game of commonpoolresources assignment and a particular version of the prisoners’ dilemma We consider the “turn taking with independent randomizations” TTIR strategy that achieves three objectives a helping the players reach the turntaking path b resolving the question of who takes the good turn first and c deterring defection We determine conditions under which there exists a unique TTIR strategy profile that can be supported as a subgameperfect equilibrium We also show that there exist conditions under which an increase in the “degree of conflict” of the stage game leads to a decrease in the expected number of periods in reaching the turntaking pathWe are grateful to Stephen Chiu Simon Grant Xianming Zhou two anonymous referees and seminar participants at the Australian National University City University of Hong Kong McGill University Monash University Purdue University and University of Hong Kong for helpful comments and to Daniel Kelly and Philip Ng for excellent research assistance We thank the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong project HKU7223/04H for financial supportThis article is published under an open access license Please check the Copyright Information section for details of this license and what reuse is permitted If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and reuse information please contact the Rights and Permissions team

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