The likelihood of a cooperative outcome in a repeated prisoners' dilemma type game decreases when:
A)they value payoffs in future periods much less than they value payoffs in the current period.
B)interactions between the players are frequent.
C)cheating is easy to detect.
D)the one-time gain from cheating is small in comparison to the eventual cost of cheating.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

If players value payoffs in future periods much less than they value payoffs in the current period, they will have less incentive to work towards a cooperative outcome in the long run. This is because the immediate gains from defecting in any round will be more attractive than the potential long-term benefits of cooperation. Therefore, the likelihood of a cooperative outcome decreases. When players value payoffs in future periods much less than they value payoffs in the current period, they have a greater incentive to defect in the current period in order to get an immediate payoff. This decreases the likelihood of a cooperative outcome in the repeated game.

The Likelihood of a Cooperative Outcome in a Repeated Prisoners