ICES Experimental Economics Brown Bag Lecture
Optimal Search in Multi-period Public Goods Games
Friday, November 14, 2025 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM EST
Vernon Smith Hall (formerly Metropolitan Building), Room 5075
The Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science (ICES) presents an ICES Brown Bag Lecture featuring:
George Mason University
Optimal Search in Multi-period Public Goods Games
Abstract
This study introduces a new learning model to explain individual behavior in multi-period public goods games, building on Kahneman’s (2011) dual-system framework. We model the strategic reset between periods as a search process driven by deliberate System 2 thinking, where individuals select contribution strategies according to a ranking based on "reservation values." By integrating this deliberate search process (System 2) with intuitive, adaptive within-period learning (System 1), our model accounts for individual-level heterogeneity across periods, explains step-by-step choice behaviors, and clarifies why some participants exhibit the restart effect while others do not. To test this mechanism, we designed an experiment varying the cost structure and opponent type. Consistent with our theoretical predictions, participants follow treatment-specific search paths and exhibit treatment-specific restart effects. In the Subsidy treatment (relative to Standard), elicited beliefs regarding others’ contributions are higher, so restart responses are more pronounced, especially in early periods. Similarly, when facing computerized partners, setting a higher probability of partner contribution yields the same pattern: a stronger restart effect compared to the low-probability condition. Most individuals' choices align closely with the model: selections cluster within the theory-predicted subset, and, when overlap occurs, choice sequences largely follow the optimal order, especially when strategies are defined solely by initial contributions. These findings provide valuable insights for institutional design, suggesting that strategically implemented pauses can encourage individuals to deliberately reset their strategies, thereby enhancing sustained cooperation.
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