Holistic experimentation versus decomposition: An ultimatum experiment

In phase I, every participant plays the ultimatum game with each of the other five group members. For each of five offers, it is learned how many participants in each group would have accepted it. In phase II, the pie is 30 times larger. Thus, response behavior can be explored in phase I and, with this information, possibly exploited in phase II. Neither game theory nor equity theory suggest such holistic experimentation. Seventy-four participants out of 91 engaged in experimentation by submitting different offers in phase I. The remaining 17 submitted equal offers as suggested by decomposition hypothesis. 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.