Precedent transfer in coordination games: experimental evidence

In this work we study the power of precedent transfer in improving coordination in the minimum effort game with large groups. We test whether groups which play a different coordination game in which chances to reach the best equilibrium are higher than in the minimum effort game can then transfer the homegrown precedent of e±ciency to the minimum e®ort game, achieving better coordination results compared to baseline treatments. We also test whether the opposite holds, i.e., whether ine±cient precedents achieved by groups in the minimum effort game negatively a®ect the subsequent probability of reaching the e±cient equilibrium in similar games. Our results show that e±cient precedents are generally transferred successfully to the minimum effort game, allowing groups to achieve better equilibrium outcomes compared to standard results.