research articles: An experimental study of information and mixed-strategy play in the three-person matching-pennies game

Arijit Mukherji (), Kevin McCabe () and David E. Runkle ()
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Arijit Mukherji: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
David E. Runkle: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

Economic Theory, 2000, vol. 15, issue 2, pages 421-462

Abstract: Recent experiments on mixed-strategy play in experimental games reject the hypothesis that subjects play a mixed strategy even when that strategy is the unique Nash equilibrium prediction. However, in a three-person matching-pennies game played with perfect monitoring and complete payoff information, we cannot reject the hypothesis that subjects play the mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium. Given this support for mixed-strategy play, we then consider two qualitatively different learning theories (sophisticated Bayesian and naive Bayesian) which predict that the amount of information given to subjects will determine whether they can learn to play the predicted mixed strategies. We reject the hypothesis that subjects play the symmetric mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium when they do not have complete payoff information. This finding suggests that players did not use sophisticated Bayesian learning to reach the mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium.

Keywords: Nash equilibrium; Bayesian learning; Experimental. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C72 C91 D83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000 Written 2000-02-21
Note: Received: August 9, 1996; revised version: October 21, 1998

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