Conventions for Selecting Among Conventions :An Evolutionary and Experimental Analysis

Conventions can be narrowly interpreted as coordinated ways of equilibriumplay, i.e., a specific convention tells all players in a game withmultiple strict equilibria which equilibrium to play. In our view, coordinationoften takes place before learning about the games. Thus, one hasto coordinate on a prescribing principle of equilibrium selection. For thesubclass of 2x2-bimatrix games with two strict equilibria we analyze theevolutionary stability of various such principles. In our experiment, weallow participants to first coordinate before playing various games. Basedon between-subjects treatments, participants do this behind a complete(they know neither their role nor the game parameters), a partial (theyknow either their role or the game parameters) veil of ignorance, or withno ignorance (they know their role and the game parameters).