Point beauty contest: Measuring the distribution of focal points on the individual level

Arbeitspapier

We propose the Point Beauty Contest, a mechanism to identify the distribution of focal points on the individual level. By contrast to conventional coordination, subjects coordinate by the distribution of points. This allows for nuanced coordination strategies, as subjects can invest in multiple alternatives at the same time and weigh their choice. A subject's strategy choice then reveals her perception of the distribution of focal points. In an experiment on the elicitation of social norms, we compare the mechanism with conventional coordination. The data confirms the theoretical predictions regarding coordination behavior and demonstrates that the proposed technique is suited to identify the distribution of focal points on the individual level. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the proposed mechanism identifies focal points on the population level more efficiently than conventional coordination. We point to the possibility of using the mechanism as a simple method to directly measure strategic uncertainty.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Discussion Paper Series ; No. 667

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economic Methodology ; Game Theory and Bargaining Theory: General ; Design of Experiments: Laboratory, Individual
• Subject: coordination ; focal points ; games theory ; strategic uncertainty ; social norms

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Schmidt, Robert J.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics
• (where): Heidelberg
• (when): 2019

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.11588/heidok.00027202
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/207643
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-272022
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET