Ruling the roost: the vicious circle and the emergence of pecking order
2026-04-02
This paper constructs a new game—the ”rule-the-roost game”—where players compete repeatedly for power (“chickens”) and wealth (“eggs”) in the lab. In a “patronage” treatment, players can buy others’ support to win power; in a ”no-patronage” treatment, such payments are impossible. A vicious circle develops under patronage, where the powerful accumulate more power and wealth, leading to substantial inequality. This is attenuated, however, by a countervailing force: the powerless act to oppose the powerful. No vicious circle arises in the no-patronage treatment and inequality is markedly lower. Gender differences in outcomes are small without patronage but large with it.