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Team versus individual behavior in the minimum effort coordination game

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  • Chaudhuri, Ananish
  • Paichayontvijit, Tirnud
  • So, Tony

Abstract

We compare coordination success of individuals and teams in the minimum effort coordination game. The game is played by groups of either five individuals or five two-person teams with either fixed or random re-matching protocols. When groups are fixed, teams perform at least as well as individuals, if not better, in terms of coordinating to the payoff dominant outcome. But with random re-matching, teams experience pervasive coordination failures. A public recommendation to a strategy or a performance bonus exhorting players to coordinate to the payoff-dominant equilibrium has similar impact on coordination for both individuals and teams playing with fixed matching. However, coordination is far more difficult to achieve with teams playing under random re-matching. Our results have implications for the design of work-groups in organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Chaudhuri, Ananish & Paichayontvijit, Tirnud & So, Tony, 2015. "Team versus individual behavior in the minimum effort coordination game," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 85-102.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:47:y:2015:i:c:p:85-102
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2015.02.002
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    Cited by:

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    2. Yong Liu & Ting Zhou & Jeffrey Yi-Lin Forrest, 2020. "A Multivariate Minimum Cost Consensus Model for Negotiations of Holdout Demolition," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 29(5), pages 871-899, October.
    3. Francisca Jiménez-Jiménez, 2023. "Heterogeneity, coordination and competition: the distribution of individual preferences in organisations," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 67-107, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Weak-link games; Coordination; Teams; Recommendation; Performance bonus;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects

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