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Coordination in the Network Minimum Game

Author

Listed:
  • Johannes Hoelzemann

    (Department of Economics, University of Toronto)

  • Hongyi Li

    (School of Economics, UNSW Business School)

Abstract

Motivated by the problem of organizational design, we study coordination in the network minimum game: a version of the minimum-effort game where players are connected by a directed network. We show experimentally that acyclic networks such as hierarchies are most conducive to successful coordination. Introducing a single link to complete a network cycle may drastically inhibit coordination. Further, acyclic networks enable resilient coordination: initial coordination failure is often overcome (exacerbated) after repeated play in acyclic (cyclic) networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Johannes Hoelzemann & Hongyi Li, 2021. "Coordination in the Network Minimum Game," Discussion Papers 2021-02, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    • Handle: RePEc:swe:wpaper:2021-02
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    File URL: http://research.economics.unsw.edu.au/RePEc/papers/2021-02.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    organizational design; weak-link game; minimum-effort game; coordination failure; quantal response equilibrium;
    All these keywords.

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