Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working Papers in Economics,
University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics
No 617: Intuitive cooperation refuted: Commentary on Rand et al. (2012) and Rand et al. (2014)
Kristian Ove R. Myrseth () and Conny E. Wollbrant ()
Additional contact information
Kristian Ove R. Myrseth: School of Management, University of St. Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9RJ, UK
Conny E. Wollbrant: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 Gothenburg, Sweden
Abstract: We show that Rand et al. (2012) and Rand et al. (2014)—who argue that cooperation is intuitive—provide an incorrect interpretation of their own data. They make the mistake of inferring intuition from relative decision times alone, without taking into account absolute decision times. We re-examine their data and find that the vast majority of their responses are slow, exceeding four seconds, even in time-pressure treatments intended to promote intuitive responses. Further, a plot of the average cooperation rates by decision time presents no clear relationship between decision time and cooperation. However, among the few decisions that were relatively fast (less than four seconds), there appears to be a positive—not negative— correlation between decision time and cooperation. We conclude that the data presented by Rand et al. (2012) and Rand et al. (2014) fail to provide evidence for the hypothesis that cooperation is intuitive. If anything, their data indicate the opposite.
Keywords: Cooperation; Intuition; Decision times; Pro-social behavior
12 pages, First version: March 2015. Revised: August 2016.
Note: Revised August 2016
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