Imitation - Theory and Experimental Evidence

We introduce a generalized theoretical approach to study imitation andsubject it to rigorous experimental testing. In our theoretical analysiswe …nd that the different predictions of previous imitation models aredue to different informational assumptions, not to different behavioralrules. It is more important whom one imitates rather than how. In alaboratory experiment we test the different theories by systematicallyvarying information conditions. We fi…nd signi…ficant effects of seeminglyinnocent changes in information. Moreover, the generalized imitationmodel predicts the differences between treatments well. The data pro-vide support for imitation on the individual level, both in terms ofchoice and in terms of perception. But imitation is not unconditional.Rather individuals propensity to imitate more successful actions isincreasing in payoff differences....