ARE ECONOMISTS RATIONAL, OR JUST DIFFERENT?

Abstract

There is evidence that American economics undergraduates are more likely than others to act self-interestedly and less likely to behave cooperatively. In two experiments, differences between Americans and Canadians and between economics students and psychology students were examined. Data from simple bargaining and a prisoner's dilemma game are presented, which suggest that Canadian students may be more co-operative than American students, and psychology students less selfish than either economics students or students from other disciplines. However, these results suggest also that these relationships are not simple, and that other variables – such as gender – need to be taken into account.