But for each individual student, the best thing is to put everything into the private account. That way, you get back all your own stake, plus a full share of the pool provided by the suckers. Nearly all the non-economists said yes, they had worried. More than one-third of the economists either refused to answer the question regarding what is fair, or gave very complex, uncodable responses. Those who did respond were much more likely to say that little or no contribution was fair.
Fairness calls for an equal split.
Only a non-economist could ask. Note also that the game was played just once for each pair, so there was no reason for the receiver to refuse in the hope of prompting a better offer next time. Other studies have found the same. A survey asked 1,245 randomly selected college professors how much they gave to charity each year. The prisoner's dilemma a game where two players have to decide whether to co-operate with each other or cheat has long been of great interest to economists.