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Coordination and learning in games with strategic substitutes and complements

Author

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  • Barthel, Anne-Christine
  • Hoffmann, Eric
  • Monaco, Andrew

Abstract

This paper experimentally compares the impact of the presence of strategic substitutes (GSS) and complements (GSC) on players’ ability to successfully play equilibrium strategies. By exploiting a simple property of the ordering on strategy spaces, our design allows us to isolate these effects by avoiding other confounding factors that are present in more complex settings, such as market games. We find that the presence of strategic complementarities significantly improves the rate of Nash play, but that this effect is driven mainly by early rounds of play. This suggests that GSS may be more difficult to learn initially, but that given sufficient time, the theoretically supported globally stable equilibrium offers a good prediction in both settings. We also show that increasing the degree of substitutability or complementarity does not significantly improve the rate of Nash play in either setting, which builds on the findings of previous studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Barthel, Anne-Christine & Hoffmann, Eric & Monaco, Andrew, 2019. "Coordination and learning in games with strategic substitutes and complements," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 53-65.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:73:y:2019:i:1:p:53-65
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rie.2018.10.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nobuyuki Hanaki & Ali I. Ozkes, 2023. "Strategic environment effect and communication," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 26(3), pages 588-621, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experiments; Strategic substitutes; Strategic complements;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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