Glossary
Coordination game
What is a Coordination Game?
A coordination game is a strategic situation in which compatible choices can benefit the players and more than one coordinated outcome may be possible. The central problem is how expectations and actions come to fit together.
Research foundation
Van Huyck and colleagues’ experiments studied selection among equilibria, including the roles of payoffs, security, and past outcomes. Knowing that an equilibrium exists does not by itself explain how players will select it.
Illustrative example
Two people choosing a meeting place may prefer meeting at either location to missing each other. One may prefer the station and the other the library. They share an interest in meeting but need not agree about the best coordinated outcome.
Limits
Coordination problems are not always cases of perfectly aligned interests, and communication is not the only issue. Payoffs and uncertainty about others’ actions also matter. A familiar meeting location can be a focal point, also called a Schelling point. But no particular location is universally salient across populations and settings.
Standards and Conventions
Coordination games help explain the value of shared conventions, such as using the same side of the road. Once people expect others to follow a convention, departing from it can be costly even if another shared convention could also work. That does not imply that every possible convention is equally good.