Article
Comparative Economic Studies (1994) 36 (1), 83–93; doi:10.1057/ces.1994.6
Survey Article: Cooperate or Defect? Russian and American Students in a Prisoner's Dilemma
Capitalism will not work here. Russians are different. —Russian economics professor, Kuban State University, Krasnodar (November 1991)
Michael Hemesath*
*The author would like to thank Scott Bierman, David Garman, Jenny Wahl and Doug Williams for helpful comments. The enthusiasm and patience of students from the Fall 1993 ACM/GLCA Krasnodar program and English students from the English Department at Kuban State University is gratefully acknowledged. Finally, the author is especially grateful for the assistance of Natasha V. Sergeeva of the English Department, without whom this project could not have been undertaken.
Abstract
Do assumptions underlying the models of Western market economies fit in the Russian context? To examine one aspect of this question, a group of U.S. college students and a group of Russian undergraduates were brought together to play the classic prisoner's dilemma game. Facing real monetary payoffs, each student played the game four times with different partners. This paper examines the factors that influenced students to cooperate or defect in each game.
