What Does 'Clean' Really Mean? The Implicit Framing of Decontextualized Experiments
9 Pages Posted: 30 Aug 2013 Last revised: 14 Dec 2013
Date Written: December 1, 2013
Abstract
It is standard in experimental economics to use decontextualized designs where payoff structures are presented using neutral language. Here we show that cooperation in such a neutrally framed Prisoner’s Dilemma is equivalent to a PD framed as contributing to a cooperative endeavor. Conversely, there is substantially less cooperation in a PD framed as a competition. We conclude that in a decontextualized context, our participants by default project a cooperative frame onto the payoff structure.
Keywords: cooperation, framing, social dilemmas, social preferences
JEL Classification: C70, C91, D62, D64, D80, H41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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