Higher cognitive ability is associated with lower entries in a p-beauty contest

Terence C. Burnham; David Cesarini; Magnus Johannesson; Paul Lichtenstein; Björn Wallace

doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2009.05.015

Higher cognitive ability is associated with lower entries in a p-beauty contest

Terence C. Burnham, David Cesarini, Magnus Johannesson, Paul Lichtenstein, Björn Wallace

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

"Beauty contests" are well-studied, dominance-solvable games that generate two interesting results. First, most behavior does not conform to the unique Nash equilibrium. Second, there is considerable unexplained heterogeneity in behavior. In this work, we explore the relationship between beauty contest behavior and cognitive ability. We find that subjects with high cognitive ability exhibit behavior that is closer to the Nash equilibrium.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	171-175
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Volume	72
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2009.05.015
State	Published - Oct 2009

Keywords

Beauty contests
Cognitive ability
Experimental economics
Rationality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Economics and Econometrics
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

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10.1016/j.jebo.2009.05.015

Cite this

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title = "Higher cognitive ability is associated with lower entries in a p-beauty contest",

abstract = "{"}Beauty contests{"} are well-studied, dominance-solvable games that generate two interesting results. First, most behavior does not conform to the unique Nash equilibrium. Second, there is considerable unexplained heterogeneity in behavior. In this work, we explore the relationship between beauty contest behavior and cognitive ability. We find that subjects with high cognitive ability exhibit behavior that is closer to the Nash equilibrium.",

keywords = "Beauty contests, Cognitive ability, Experimental economics, Rationality",

author = "Burnham, {Terence C.} and David Cesarini and Magnus Johannesson and Paul Lichtenstein and Bj{\"o}rn Wallace",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation, and the Swedish Research Council for financial support. Copyright: Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2009",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1016/j.jebo.2009.05.015",

language = "English (US)",

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AU - Burnham, Terence C.

AU - Cesarini, David

AU - Johannesson, Magnus

AU - Lichtenstein, Paul

AU - Wallace, Björn

PY - 2009/10

Y1 - 2009/10

N2 - "Beauty contests" are well-studied, dominance-solvable games that generate two interesting results. First, most behavior does not conform to the unique Nash equilibrium. Second, there is considerable unexplained heterogeneity in behavior. In this work, we explore the relationship between beauty contest behavior and cognitive ability. We find that subjects with high cognitive ability exhibit behavior that is closer to the Nash equilibrium.

AB - "Beauty contests" are well-studied, dominance-solvable games that generate two interesting results. First, most behavior does not conform to the unique Nash equilibrium. Second, there is considerable unexplained heterogeneity in behavior. In this work, we explore the relationship between beauty contest behavior and cognitive ability. We find that subjects with high cognitive ability exhibit behavior that is closer to the Nash equilibrium.

KW - Beauty contests

KW - Cognitive ability

KW - Experimental economics

KW - Rationality

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ER -

Higher cognitive ability is associated with lower entries in a p-beauty contest

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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