How Portable is Level-0 Behavior? A Test of Level-k Theory in Games with Non-Neutral Frames

Authors

Shaun Hargreaves Heap, King's College London
David Rojo Arjona, Chapman UniversityFollow
Robert Sugden, University of East Anglia

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-2-2014

Abstract

We test the portability of level‐0 assumptions in level‐k theory in an experimental investigation of behavior in Coordination, Discoordination, and Hide and Seek games with common, non‐neutral frames. Assuming that level‐0 behavior depends only on the frame, we derive hypotheses that are independent of prior assumptions about salience. Those hypotheses are not confirmed. Our findings contrast with previous research which has fitted parameterized level‐k models to Hide and Seek data. We show that, as a criterion of successful explanation, the existence of a plausible model that replicates the main patterns in these data has a high probability of false positives.

Comments

This article was originally published in Econometrica, volume 82, issue 3, in 2014. DOI: 10.3982/ECTA11132

Recommended Citation

Hargreaves Heap, S., Arjona, D. R., & Sugden, R. (2015). How portable is level-0 behavior? A test of level-k theory in games with non-neutral frames. Econometrica, 82(3), 1133–1151. doi: 10.3982/ECTA11132

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

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