Main menu For students For teachers Explore our subjects Student events & courses

Free Economics resources

Topics

Dictator Game

In the dictator game, the dictator gets to decide how much of an initial sum of money (say, £10) he/she would like to give to the second player. Economic theory predicts that the dictator will always make the most self-interested choice. Behavioural experiments find that fully selfish behaviour is the exception rather than the rule, many behave altruistically.