Strategic Uncertainty and Sequential Play

The paper examines how the timing of decisions shapes outcomes in coordination settings. Theoretically, the outcomes become predictable and efficient when decisions are made sequentially rather than simultaneously. Our experimental evidence shows that sequential moves promote remarkably high efficiency, and these effects are far less sensitive to increased group size. A key finding is that the sequential structure alters the distribution of strategic uncertainty in a group, aggregating it and allocating most of it to the first mover. Dynamic measures further reveal that coordination failures under simultaneous moves stem from weak resilience to setbacks rather than fragility of equilibria.