Two suspected drug dealers are stopped by the highway patrol for speeding.The officer searches the car and finds a small bag of marijuana, and arrests the two.During the interrogation, each is separately made the following offer: 'If you confess to dealing drugs and testify against your partner, you will be given immunity and released while your partner will get 10 years in prison.If you both confess, you will each get five years'.If neither confesses, there is no evidence of drug dealing, and the most they could get is one year each for possession of marijuana.If each suspected drug dealer follows a dominant strategy, what should they do?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Confessing, regardless of the partner's decision, is the dominant strategy for each suspected drug dealer. If one confesses and the other does not, the confessor gets immunity while the other gets 10 years. If both confess, they each get 5 years, which is better than the 10 years one would get if they didn't confess and their partner did. If neither confesses, they both get 1 year, but the risk of getting 10 years if the other confesses makes confessing the safer option to minimize potential prison time.

Two Suspected Drug Dealers Are Stopped by the Highway Patrol