Strength of dominance and depths of reasoning--An experimental study

Iterated elimination of strictly dominated strategies has a stronger epistemic foundation than iterated elimination of weakly dominated strategies. In this paper I investigate experimentally whether this translates into actual differences in behavior. In particular, I analyze whether it affects subjects' depth of reasoning. This is done within two slightly different versions of a betting game under asymmetric information, in which very similar steps of reasoning can be applied to reach no-betting, or non-speculative, behavior, but of which only one can be solved by iterated elimination of strictly dominated strategies. The results indicate that strength of dominance matters indeed.Experimental economics Depths of reasoning Iterated strict dominance Iterated weak dominance