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An Explanation of Anomalous Behavior in Models of Political Participation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2005

JACOB K. GOEREE  and
CHARLES A. HOLT
JACOB K. GOEREE
Affiliation:
California Institute of Technology
CHARLES A. HOLT
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
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Abstract

This paper characterizes behavior with “noisy” decision making for models of political interaction characterized by simultaneous binary decisions. Applications include: voting participation games, candidate entry, the volunteer's dilemma, and collective action problems with a contribution threshold. A simple graphical device is used to derive comparative statics and other theoretical properties of a “quantal response” equilibrium, and the resulting predictions are compared with Nash equilibria that arise in the limiting case of no noise. Many anomalous data patterns in laboratory experiments based on these games can be explained in this manner.

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ARTICLES
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American Political Science Review , Volume 99 , Issue 2 , May 2005 , pp. 201 - 213
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© 2005 by the American Political Science Association

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