A Cross-Cultural Experimental Study on Interactive Decision-Making Involving Germans, Israelis and Palestinians

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Reinhard Selten (†)
• Co-Applicants: Professor Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Eyal Winter
• Subject Area: Economic Theory
• Term: from 2004 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5421699

The main goal of the project is to understand how cultural differences affect strategic behavior in a variety of strategic environments. We will address the issue by focusing on studies based primarily on laboratory experiments with the participation of Germans, Israelis and Palestinians. We will design experiments on several games including the ultimatum game, trust games, public good games, and team games. Beyond the effects of culture we want to study how the special historical and political background of the relation between these three nationalities affect strategic behavior. What kind of stereotypes does one country group tend to form against another, and do these stereotypes find support in the actual behavior of the other group? Finally, are the cultural effects that may be discovered persistent or do they tend to diminish with increasing interaction or with face-to face contact? Four teams in Germany, Israel and the West Bank will collaborate. The experiments will be conducted in strategic set-ups that compare anonymous interaction with face-to-face interaction within a culture and across cultures.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel, Palestine