Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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SOE: Fachverband Physik sozio-ökonomischer Systeme

SOE 15: Economic Models and Evolutionary Game Theory I (with BP, DY)

SOE 15.5: Talk

Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 15:00–15:15, GÖR 226

The Overlooked Effect of Stating One's Own Risk Preferences on Subsequent Decision Choices: Evidence of Inherent Indeterminacy of Risk Preferences from a Laboratory Experiment — •Lora Todorova and Bodo Vogt — Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management, P. O. Box 4120, D-39016 Magdeburg, Deutschland

With the help of a laboratory experiment we try to test the predictions of quantum game theory. We show that answering a questionnaire about one's own risk preferences before playing a 2x2 coordination game changes subjects' strategy choices as compared to the case when the 2x2 coordination game is directly played. We argue that the act of answering the questionnaire alters subjects' risk preferences which further induce a change in their strategic behavior. The mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics is used to explain our findings. It is shown that the quantum game theory framework is a more powerful tool for analyzing strategic behavior than standard economic theories.