Editing Coordination game (section)

==Experimental results==

Coordination games have been studied in laboratory experiments. One such experiment by Bortolotti, Devetag, and [[Andreas Ortmann]] was a weak-link experiment in which groups of individuals were asked to count and sort coins in an effort to measure the difference between individual and group incentives. Players in this experiment received a payoff based on their individual performance as well as a bonus that was weighted by the number of errors accumulated by their worst performing team member. Players also had the option to purchase more time, the cost of doing so was subtracted from their payoff. While groups initially failed to coordinate, researchers observed about 80% of the groups in the experiment coordinated successfully when the game was repeated.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bortolotti|first1=Stefania|last2=Devetag|first2=Giovanna|last3=Ortmann|first3=Andreas|date=2016-01-01|title=Group incentives or individual incentives? A real-effort weak-link experiment|url=http://econpapers.repec.org/article/eeejoepsy/v_3a56_3ay_3a2016_3ai_3ac_3ap_3a60-73.htm|journal=Journal of Economic Psychology|volume=56|issue=C|pages=60–73|issn=0167-4870|doi=10.1016/j.joep.2016.05.004|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

When academics talk about coordination failure, most cases are that subjects achieve [[risk dominance]] rather than payoff dominance. Even when payoffs are better when players coordinate on one equilibrium, many times people will choose the less risky option where they are guaranteed some payoff and end up at an equilibrium that has sub-optimal payoff. Players are more likely to fail to coordinate on a riskier option when the difference between taking the risk or the safe option is smaller. The laboratory results suggest that coordination failure is a common phenomenon in the setting of order-statistic games and [[Stag hunt|stag-hunt]] games.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Devetag|first1=Giovanna|last2=Ortmann|first2=Andreas|date=2006-08-15|title=When and Why? A Critical Survey on Coordination Failure in the Laboratory|ssrn=924186|location=Rochester, NY|publisher=Social Science Research Network}}</ref>