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Conventions - Some Conventional and Some Not So Conventional Wisdom

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Author Info
Siegfried Berninghaus
Werner Güth ()
Hartmut Kliemt

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Abstract

In this paper we consider conventions as regularities in behavior which help to solve coordination problems in a society. These problems can be formalized as non-cooperative games with several equilibria. We know that in such situations serious problems of equilibrium selection arise which cannot be solved by traditional game theoretical reasoning. Conventions seem to be a powerful tool to solve equilibrium selection problems in real world societies. Essentially, two questions will be addressed in this paper: a) Which conventions will emerge in a society? b) How can a society break away from an inferior and reach a superior convention? It turns out that "risk dominance" of a convention plays a crucial role in dealing with both questions and generally in the evolution of conventions.

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Paper provided by Max Planck Institute of Economics, Strategic Interaction Group in its series Discussion Papers on Strategic Interaction with number 2004-37.

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Length: 25 pages
Date of creation: Nov 2004
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Handle: RePEc:esi:discus:2004-37

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  1. Boyer, Robert & Orlean, Andre, 1992. "How Do Conventions Evolve?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 165-77, October.
  2. Berninghaus, Siegfried K. & Ehrhart, Karl-Martin & Keser, Claudia, 2002. "Conventions and Local Interaction Structures: Experimental Evidence," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 177-205, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Cooper, Russell & De Jong, Douglas V. & Forsythe, Robert & Ross, Thomas W., 1992. "Forward induction in coordination games," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 167-172, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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