IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/gamebe/v87y2014icp397-411.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Imitation and the role of information in overcoming coordination failures

Author

Listed:
  • Alós-Ferrer, Carlos
  • Weidenholzer, Simon

Abstract

We consider minimum-effort games played in an arbitrary network. For a family of imitation behavioral rules, including Imitate the Best and the Proportional Imitation Rule, we show that inefficient conventions arise independently of the interaction structure, if information is limited to the interaction neighborhoods. In the presence of information spillovers, we provide a condition on the network structure that guarantees the emergence of efficient conventions. In contrast, if this condition is violated we will observe inefficient conventions, even in the presence of information spillovers.

Suggested Citation

  • Alós-Ferrer, Carlos & Weidenholzer, Simon, 2014. "Imitation and the role of information in overcoming coordination failures," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 397-411.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:87:y:2014:i:c:p:397-411
    DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2014.05.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899825614001067
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.geb.2014.05.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Virginie Masson, 2011. "Information, Matching and Outcome Selection," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2011-13, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    2. Ely Jeffrey C, 2002. "Local Conventions," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-32, May.
    3. Apesteguia, Jose & Huck, Steffen & Oechssler, Jorg, 2007. "Imitation--theory and experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 217-235, September.
    4. Anderlini, Luca & Ianni, Antonella, 1996. "Path Dependence and Learning from Neighbors," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 141-177, April.
    5. Glenn Ellison, 2000. "Basins of Attraction, Long-Run Stochastic Stability, and the Speed of Step-by-Step Evolution," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 67(1), pages 17-45.
    6. Ellison, Glenn, 1993. "Learning, Local Interaction, and Coordination," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(5), pages 1047-1071, September.
    7. Crawford, Vincent P, 1995. "Adaptive Dynamics in Coordination Games," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(1), pages 103-143, January.
    8. Maruta, Toshimasa & 丸田, 利昌 & Okada, Akira & 岡田, 章, 2009. "Stochastically Stable Equilibria in Coordination Games with Multiple Populations," Discussion Papers 2009-01, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    9. Carlos Alós-Ferrer & Georg Kirchsteiger, 2010. "General equilibrium and the emergence of (non)market clearing trading institutions," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 44(3), pages 339-360, September.
    10. Duersch, Peter & Oechssler, Jörg & Schipper, Burkhard C., 2012. "Unbeatable imitation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 88-96.
    11. Alós-Ferrer, Carlos, 2008. "Learning, bounded memory, and inertia," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 134-136, November.
    12. Robson, Arthur J. & Vega-Redondo, Fernando, 1996. "Efficient Equilibrium Selection in Evolutionary Games with Random Matching," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 65-92, July.
    13. Richard Cornes, 1993. "Dyke Maintenance and Other Stories: Some Neglected Types of Public Goods," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(1), pages 259-271.
    14. Schlag, Karl H., 1998. "Why Imitate, and If So, How?, : A Boundedly Rational Approach to Multi-armed Bandits," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 130-156, January.
    15. Van Huyck, John B & Battalio, Raymond C & Beil, Richard O, 1990. "Tacit Coordination Games, Strategic Uncertainty, and Coordination Failure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 234-248, March.
    16. Michael Kremer, 1993. "The O-Ring Theory of Economic Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 551-575.
    17. Roberto A. Weber, 2006. "Managing Growth to Achieve Efficient Coordination in Large Groups," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 114-126, March.
    18. Arno Riedl & Ingrid M. T. Rohde & Martin Strobel, 2016. "Efficient Coordination in Weakest-Link Games," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(2), pages 737-767.
    19. Simon Angus & Virginie Masson, 2010. "The Effects of Information and Interactions on Contagion Processes," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2010-12, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    20. Bengt Holmstrom, 1982. "Moral Hazard in Teams," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 13(2), pages 324-340, Autumn.
    21. Venkatesh Bala & Sanjeev Goyal, 1998. "Learning from Neighbours," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(3), pages 595-621.
    22. Durieu, Jacques & Solal, Philippe, 2003. "Adaptive play with spatial sampling," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 189-195, May.
    23. Kandori, Michihiro & Mailath, George J & Rob, Rafael, 1993. "Learning, Mutation, and Long Run Equilibria in Games," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(1), pages 29-56, January.
    24. Russell Cooper & Andrew John, 1988. "Coordinating Coordination Failures in Keynesian Models," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 103(3), pages 441-463.
    25. Blume Lawrence E., 1993. "The Statistical Mechanics of Strategic Interaction," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 387-424, July.
    26. Young, H Peyton, 1993. "The Evolution of Conventions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(1), pages 57-84, January.
    27. Hsiao-Chi Chen & Yunshyong Chow & Li-Chau Wu, 2012. "Imitation, local interaction, and efficiency: reappraisal," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(1), pages 675-684.
    28. Anwar, A. W., 2002. "On the Co-existence of Conventions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 107(1), pages 145-155, November.
    29. Bergin, James & Bernhardt, Dan, 2009. "Cooperation through imitation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 376-388, November.
    30. Dutta Jayasri & Prasad Kislaya, 2004. "Imitation and Long Run Outcomes," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-36, October.
    31. Jordi Brandts & David J. Cooper, 2006. "A Change Would Do You Good .... An Experimental Study on How to Overcome Coordination Failure in Organizations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 669-693, June.
    32. Crawford, Vincent P., 1991. "An "evolutionary" interpretation of Van Huyck, Battalio, and Beil's experimental results on coordination," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 25-59, February.
    33. John Bryant, 1983. "A Simple Rational Expectations Keynes-type Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(3), pages 525-528.
    34. Fernando Vega-Redondo, 1997. "The Evolution of Walrasian Behavior," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(2), pages 375-384, March.
    35. Simon Weidenholzer, 2010. "Coordination Games and Local Interactions: A Survey of the Game Theoretic Literature," Games, MDPI, vol. 1(4), pages 1-35, November.
    36. Carlos Alós-Ferrer & Fei Shi, 2012. "Imitation with asymmetric memory," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 49(1), pages 193-215, January.
    37. Crawford, Vincent P & Haller, Hans, 1990. "Learning How to Cooperate: Optimal Play in Repeated Coordination Games," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(3), pages 571-595, May.
    38. John B. Van Huyck & Raymond C. Battalio & Richard O. Beil, 1991. "Strategic Uncertainty, Equilibrium Selection, and Coordination Failure in Average Opinion Games," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(3), pages 885-910.
    39. Jack Hirshleifer, 1983. "From weakest-link to best-shot: The voluntary provision of public goods," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 371-386, January.
    40. H. Peyton Young, 1998. "Conventional Contracts," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(4), pages 773-792.
    41. Alós-Ferrer, Carlos & Weidenholzer, Simon, 2008. "Contagion and efficiency," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 251-274, November.
    42. Alos-Ferrer, Carlos & Weidenholzer, Simon, 2006. "Imitation, local interactions, and efficiency," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 163-168, November.
    43. Ilan Eshel & Larry Samuelson & Avner Shaked, "undated". "Altruists Egoists and Hooligans in a Local Interaction Model," ELSE working papers 005, ESRC Centre on Economics Learning and Social Evolution.
    44. Friederike Mengel, 2009. "Conformism and cooperation in a local interaction model," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 397-415, June.
    45. Duersch, Peter & Oechssler, Jörg & Schipper, Burkhard C., 2012. "Unbeatable imitation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 88-96.
    46. Eshel, Ilan & Samuelson, Larry & Shaked, Avner, 1998. "Altruists, Egoists, and Hooligans in a Local Interaction Model," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(1), pages 157-179, March.
    47. Boncinelli Leonardo, 2008. "Global vs. Local Information in (Anti-)Coordination Problems with Imitators," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, June.
    48. Maruta, Toshimasa, 2002. "Binary Games with State Dependent Stochastic Choice," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 103(2), pages 351-376, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jose Apesteguia & Steffen Huck & Jörg Oechssler & Elke Weidenholzer & Simon Weidenholzer, 2018. "Imitation of Peers in Children and Adults," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Lu, Feifei, 2023. "Local information hinders coordination in endogenous networks," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    3. Cui, Zhiwei, 2023. "Linking friction, social coordination and the speed of evolution," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 410-430.
    4. Jonathan Newton, 2018. "Evolutionary Game Theory: A Renaissance," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-67, May.
    5. Edgar J. Sánchez Carrera & Elena Gubar & Andrey F. Oleynik, 2019. "Network Structures and Poverty Traps," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 236-253, March.
    6. Mohlin, Erik & Östling, Robert & Wang, Joseph Tao-yi, 2020. "Learning by similarity-weighted imitation in winner-takes-all games," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 225-245.
    7. Zhiwei Cui, 2019. "Matching, Imitation, and Coordination in Networks," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 47-67, March.
    8. Cui, Zhiwei & Jiang, Ge & Shi, Fei, 2023. "Size-dependent minimum-effort games and constrained interactions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    9. Alós-Ferrer, Carlos & Buckenmaier, Johannes, 2017. "Trader matching and the selection of market institutions," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 118-127.
    10. Cui, Zhiwei & Wang, Rui, 2016. "Collaboration in networks with randomly chosen agents," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 129-141.
    11. repec:zbw:espost:178631 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Choudhury, Kangkan Dev & Aydinyan, Tigran, 2023. "Stochastic replicator dynamics: A theoretical analysis and an experimental assessment," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 851-865.
    13. Frecknall-Hughes, Jane & Gangl, Katharina & Hofmann, Eva & Hartl, Barbara & Kirchler, Erich, 2023. "The influence of tax authorities on the employment of tax practitioners: Empirical evidence from a survey and interview study," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    14. Cui, Zhiwei & Shi, Fei, 2022. "Bandwagon effects and constrained network formation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 37-51.
    15. Nicola Campigotto, 2021. "Pairwise imitation and evolution of the social contract," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 1333-1354, September.
    16. Lu, Feifei & Shi, Fei, 2023. "Coordination with heterogeneous interaction constraints," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 645-665.
    17. Pin, Paolo & Weidenholzer, Elke & Weidenholzer, Simon, 2017. "Constrained mobility and the evolution of efficient outcomes," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 165-175.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alós-Ferrer, Carlos & Weidenholzer, Simon, 2014. "Imitation and the role of information in overcoming coordination failures," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 397-411.
    2. Ge Jiang & Simon Weidenholzer, 2017. "Local interactions under switching costs," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 64(3), pages 571-588, October.
    3. Cui, Zhiwei & Wang, Rui, 2016. "Collaboration in networks with randomly chosen agents," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 129-141.
    4. Carlos Alós-Ferrer & Nick Netzer, 2015. "Robust stochastic stability," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 58(1), pages 31-57, January.
    5. Hsiao-Chi Chen & Yunshyong Chow & Li-Chau Wu, 2013. "Imitation, local interaction, and coordination," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 42(4), pages 1041-1057, November.
    6. Jonas Hedlund, 2015. "Imitation in Cournot oligopolies with multiple markets," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 60(3), pages 567-587, November.
    7. Simon Weidenholzer, 2010. "Coordination Games and Local Interactions: A Survey of the Game Theoretic Literature," Games, MDPI, vol. 1(4), pages 1-35, November.
    8. Alós-Ferrer, Carlos & Weidenholzer, Simon, 2008. "Contagion and efficiency," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 251-274, November.
    9. Cui, Zhiwei & Shi, Fei, 2022. "Bandwagon effects and constrained network formation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 37-51.
    10. Ennio Bilancini & Leonardo Boncinelli, 2018. "Social coordination with locally observable types," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 65(4), pages 975-1009, June.
    11. V. Masson, 2015. "Information, interaction and memory," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 44(4), pages 1015-1032, November.
    12. Jonathan Newton, 2018. "Evolutionary Game Theory: A Renaissance," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-67, May.
    13. Staudigl, Mathias & Weidenholzer, Simon, 2014. "Constrained interactions and social coordination," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 41-63.
    14. Zhiwei Cui, 2019. "Matching, Imitation, and Coordination in Networks," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 47-67, March.
    15. Cui, Zhiwei, 2014. "More neighbors, more efficiency," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 103-115.
    16. Edward J. Cartwright, 2014. "Imitation And Coordination In Small‐World Networks," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(2), pages 71-90, April.
    17. Ennio Bilancini & Leonardo Boncinelli, 2015. "Social coordination with locally observable types," Department of Economics 0051, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    18. Abhimanyu Khan, 2014. "Coordination under global random interaction and local imitation," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 43(4), pages 721-745, November.
    19. Lim, Wooyoung & Neary, Philip R., 2016. "An experimental investigation of stochastic adjustment dynamics," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 208-219.
    20. Kevin Hasker, 2014. "The Emergent Seed: A Representation Theorem for Models of Stochastic Evolution and two formulas for Waiting Time," Levine's Working Paper Archive 786969000000000954, David K. Levine.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Minimum effort games; Local interactions; Learning; Imitation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:87:y:2014:i:c:p:397-411. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.