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Competition among Conventions

Author

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  • Joerg Oechssler

    (Columbia University)

Abstract

A convention can be seen as the standard way of playing a game. If different conventions exist in various geographical, social or other entities (called "towns") and if there is some mobility between these towns, which conventions, if any, will emerge as the successful ones? A simple evolutionary process is suggested and it is shown that the process converges to a Nash equilibrium for all games satisfying weak acyclity or a condition called evolutionary stable with respect to pure strategies (ESPS). Further, if the process converges, it converges to an efficient convention for all games in which the Pareto optimal symmetric equilibria are strict. Hence, the paper presents an explanation for the endogenous evolution of efficiency. In contrast to most recent studies in evolutionary game theory, the conclusions do not rely on random "mutations". Instead, the driving force is the tendency of players to have increased interaction with member of their own group (viscosity).

Suggested Citation

  • Joerg Oechssler, 1993. "Competition among Conventions," Game Theory and Information 9312001, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 04 Dec 1993.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpga:9312001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Oechssler, Jorg, 1997. "Decentralization and the coordination problem," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 119-135, January.
    2. Oechssler, Jorg, 1997. "An Evolutionary Interpretation of Mixed-Strategy Equilibria," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 21(1-2), pages 203-237, October.
    3. Massimiliano Landi & Pier Luigi Sacco, 2001. "Norms of Cooperation in a Game of Partnership," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 233-266, October.
    4. Simon Weidenholzer, 2010. "Coordination Games and Local Interactions: A Survey of the Game Theoretic Literature," Games, MDPI, vol. 1(4), pages 1-35, November.
    5. Hojman, Daniel A. & Szeidl, Adam, 2006. "Endogenous networks, social games, and evolution," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 112-130, April.
    6. Neary, Philip R., 2012. "Competing conventions," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 301-328.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C7 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

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