Great Expectations or Wishful Thinking? Ethnicity in a Reverse Dictator Game in Bosnia

This study considers prospects for the revitalization of social norms after ethnic conflict in the case of post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina. Between September 2003 and January 2004, a total of 681 subjects took part in a survey and a series of behavioral decision-making experiments across Bosnia. Using variations on the classic dictator game, the study shows how perceptions of a norm of fairness are impacted by ethnic treatments. Contrary to assumptions of ethnic polarization and hatred, the study reveals the persistence of a norm of fairness across ethnicity in Bosnia and points to the utility of experimental methods in the study of ethnic conflict