Chapter 47 Preferences and Property Rights in Ultimatum and Dictator Games

The results demonstrated in this chapter quite clearly the impact of property rights on the shared expectations about appropriate proposer behavior in both ultimatum and dictator games. If the game is presented as division (which by one definition means literally to separate into equal parts by a divisor) and players are randomly assigned to positions, there is no legitimate reason why the proposer should be allowed to exploit his or her strategic advantage. The norm of equality applies and both players assume that is the operating norm.