Some Experimental Evidence On The Evolution Of Discrimination, Co--Operation And Perceptions Of Fairness

When two people agree to trade, they unlock a mutual benefit, resolve a potential conflict and gain in proportion to their relative "aggression", eg the Hawk--Dove game. In an experiment with this game, a discriminatory convention evolved when half of the players were randomly assigned a red and the other half a blue label. Later, the same players were also offered the option of co--operating. Those disadvantaged by the colour--based discriminatory convention co--operated with one another most of the time while the rest did not. The paper offers an explanation of these observations based on a modification of Rabin (1993). The weaker are always anxious for justice and equality. The strong pay heed to neither. (Aristotle, "Politics", s1318b) Copyright 2002 Royal Economic Society