Uncertainty and inequality preferences in the Ultimatum Game : a case study on Kenyan smallholder farmers
- Author
- Wannes Slosse (UGent) , Kennedy Mutuku (UGent) , Michaël de Clercq (UGent) , Marijke D'Haese (UGent) , Koen Schoors (UGent) and Jeroen Buysse (UGent)
- Organization
- Project
- Abstract
- This study examines proposer behavior in the Ultimatum Game through a novel framework grounded in Prospect Theory, integrating uncertainty and inequality preferences. Drawing on experimental and survey data from 240 smallholder farmers in Siaya County, Kenya, we investigate how socio-economic characteristics and membership of producer organizations influence decision-making. By eliciting Certainty Equivalents to estimate individual-level probability weighting functions, we analyze the roles of sensitivity and pessimism as uncertainty preference parameters in shaping proposer behavior. We further explore inequality aversion and preferences for individually advantageous allocations by comparing participants' theoretical utility-maximizing decisions, as predicted by the model, with their actual observed behavior. The findings reveal significant variations in decision-making across producer organization types, providing fresh insights into the behavioral foundations of economic decision-making in non-Western contexts. This study not only advances the methodological scope of Ultimatum Game analysis but also enhances the applicability of experimental approaches in diverse socioeconomic settings.
- Keywords
- Beliefs, Inequality Aversion, Kenya, Prospect Theory, Ultimatum Game, Uncertainty Preferences, PROSPECT-THEORY, BARGAINING EXPERIMENTS, FAIRNESS, RISK, EXPECTATIONS, DECISION, UTILITY, TRUST, RECIPROCITY, INFORMATION
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01K1Z8D072E58Z26HYPAS5D2GW
- MLA
- Slosse, Wannes, et al. “Uncertainty and Inequality Preferences in the Ultimatum Game : A Case Study on Kenyan Smallholder Farmers.” JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS, vol. 118, 2025, doi:10.1016/j.socec.2025.102426.
- APA
- Slosse, W., Mutuku, K., de Clercq, M., D’Haese, M., Schoors, K., & Buysse, J. (2025). Uncertainty and inequality preferences in the Ultimatum Game : a case study on Kenyan smallholder farmers. JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS, 118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2025.102426
- Chicago author-date
- Slosse, Wannes, Kennedy Mutuku, Michaël de Clercq, Marijke D’Haese, Koen Schoors, and Jeroen Buysse. 2025. “Uncertainty and Inequality Preferences in the Ultimatum Game : A Case Study on Kenyan Smallholder Farmers.” JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS 118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2025.102426.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Slosse, Wannes, Kennedy Mutuku, Michaël de Clercq, Marijke D’Haese, Koen Schoors, and Jeroen Buysse. 2025. “Uncertainty and Inequality Preferences in the Ultimatum Game : A Case Study on Kenyan Smallholder Farmers.” JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS 118. doi:10.1016/j.socec.2025.102426.
- Vancouver
- 1.Slosse W, Mutuku K, de Clercq M, D’Haese M, Schoors K, Buysse J. Uncertainty and inequality preferences in the Ultimatum Game : a case study on Kenyan smallholder farmers. JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS. 2025;118.
- IEEE
- [1]W. Slosse, K. Mutuku, M. de Clercq, M. D’Haese, K. Schoors, and J. Buysse, “Uncertainty and inequality preferences in the Ultimatum Game : a case study on Kenyan smallholder farmers,” JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS, vol. 118, 2025.
@article{01K1Z8D072E58Z26HYPAS5D2GW,
abstract = {{This study examines proposer behavior in the Ultimatum Game through a novel framework grounded in Prospect Theory, integrating uncertainty and inequality preferences. Drawing on experimental and survey data from 240 smallholder farmers in Siaya County, Kenya, we investigate how socio-economic characteristics and membership of producer organizations influence decision-making. By eliciting Certainty Equivalents to estimate individual-level probability weighting functions, we analyze the roles of sensitivity and pessimism as uncertainty preference parameters in shaping proposer behavior. We further explore inequality aversion and preferences for individually advantageous allocations by comparing participants' theoretical utility-maximizing decisions, as predicted by the model, with their actual observed behavior. The findings reveal significant variations in decision-making across producer organization types, providing fresh insights into the behavioral foundations of economic decision-making in non-Western contexts. This study not only advances the methodological scope of Ultimatum Game analysis but also enhances the applicability of experimental approaches in diverse socioeconomic settings.}},
articleno = {{102426}},
author = {{Slosse, Wannes and Mutuku, Kennedy and de Clercq, Michaël and D'Haese, Marijke and Schoors, Koen and Buysse, Jeroen}},
issn = {{2214-8043}},
journal = {{JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS}},
keywords = {{Beliefs,Inequality Aversion,Kenya,Prospect Theory,Ultimatum Game,Uncertainty Preferences,PROSPECT-THEORY,BARGAINING EXPERIMENTS,FAIRNESS,RISK,EXPECTATIONS,DECISION,UTILITY,TRUST,RECIPROCITY,INFORMATION}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{12}},
title = {{Uncertainty and inequality preferences in the Ultimatum Game : a case study on Kenyan smallholder farmers}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2025.102426}},
volume = {{118}},
year = {{2025}},
}
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