Send first. Then decide what to return.
Investment games separate a trusting move from the recipient's opportunity to reciprocate.
Inside this model
Sender begins with 10 and sends x; the transfer becomes 3x. Recipient returns r% of 3x. Final sender tokens are 10−x+3xr/100; recipient tokens are 3x(1−r/100). The chart fixes the return share while varying the amount sent.
Out in the world
A practical use
A team member shares time or information first, hoping that the other person will reciprocate after the collaboration becomes more valuable.
A useful lens. Not a universal law.
- You control both roles in this solo game. It demonstrates possible payoffs, not an empirical prediction of how strangers reciprocate.
Further reading
Explore the original research or the teaching reference behind this experiment.
Berg, Dickhaut and McCabe — Trust, Reciprocity, and Social History ↗