ON THE ORIGIN OF CONVENTION - EVIDENCE FROM COORDINATION GAMES

We report the results of a coordination game experiment. The experimen t carefully distinguishes between conventions based on labels and conv entions based on populations. Our labels treatments investigate the ab straction assumptions that underlie the concept of a strategy, while o ur population treatments investigate the attraction of alternative mut ually consistent ways to play under adaptive behaviour. We observe con ventions emerging in communities with one population and labels and wi th two populations and no labels, but the most effective treatment is two labelled populations. We estimate logistic response learning model s for individual subject behaviour. Of the models considered, a versio n of exponential fictitious play fits our data best.