Tacit Coordination Research Articles

Gender identity, salience of information, and tacit coordination: Gender differences in response to strategic uncertainty

We use a lab experiment to explore whether gender composition and gender identity salience influence team coordination. Identity in the experiment is induced using gender-specific and neutral avatars. In contrast with many previous studies, we do not find the presence of in-group favoritism, irrespective of whether gender identity or random avatars define the group. In addition, behavior remains unchanged when the gender of the counterpart is revealed. However, females are found to cooperate significantly more when gender information is disclosed, implying an elevation in the salience of gender identity induces the females to choose based on social expectations. This research adds to the discourse on gender dynamics in decision-making and suggests that gender identity plays a role in economic choices, innovating traditional views on diversity in teamwork. Our research sheds light on the intricate dynamics of gender composition in team settings, particularly under conditions of risk and uncertainty. These findings have the potential to inform both organizational practices and public policy, thereby contributing to a more equitable and efficient labor market.

Guest editorial: Special issue on accounting for tacit coordination … and beyond

Guest editorial: Special issue on accounting for tacit coordination … and beyond

Predicting Tacit Coordination Success Using Electroencephalogram Trajectories: The Impact of Task Difficulty

In this study, we aim to develop a machine learning model to predict the level of coordination between two players in tacit coordination games by analyzing the similarity of their spatial EEG features. We present an analysis, demonstrating the model’s sensitivity, which was assessed through three conventional measures (precision, recall, and f1 score) based on the EEG patterns. These measures are evaluated in relation to the coordination task difficulty, as determined by the coordination index (CI). Tacit coordination games are games in which two individuals are requested to select the same option out of a closed set without the ability to communicate. This study aims to examine the effect of the difficulty of a semantic coordination task on the ability to predict a successful coordination between two players based on the compatibility between their EEG signals. The difficulty of each of the coordination tasks was estimated based on the degree of dispersion of the different answers given by the players reflected by the CI. The classification of the spatial distance between each pair of individual brain patterns, analyzed using the random walk algorithm, was used to predict whether successful coordination occurred or not. The classification performance was obtained for each game individually, i.e., for each different complexity level, via recall and precision indices. The results showed that the classifier performance depended on the CI, that is, on the level of coordination difficulty. These results, along with possibilities for future research, are discussed.

Accounting theory, ethnography, and the silence of the social

Purpose This paper aims to offer a reflection on the alliance between accounting theory and social research in general, focussing on the conjunction of accounting theory and ethnography in particular. Design/methodology/approach The author builds on Stefan Hirschauer’s methodological reflections on ethnography and the “silence of the social” to briefly re-articulate some of the ideas the author had associated, in an earlier piece, with the investigation of tacit coordination in accounting. Findings Ethnography is an intrinsically theoretical practice and also a particular form of accounting. As such, it presents a paradigm case for how accounting theory builds on, and emerges from, social research in joint efforts of breaking the silence of the social. Ethnographic research, like the practice of accounting and social research more generally, is associated with a stewardship of silence and an “ethics of mattering” (Karen Barad), and accounting theory is an invitation to reflect on the underlying practices of (dis-)articulation. Originality/value The paper invites readers to engage with accounting practice as a topic of systematic theoretical interest in exploring how we put the world on the record, understand the choices we make in the process and the silences we let lie.

Offline EEG hyper-scanning using anonymous walk embeddings in tacit coordination games.

In this paper we present a method to examine the synchrony between brains without the need to carry out simultaneous recordings of EEG signals from two people which is the essence of hyper-scanning studies. We used anonymous random walks to spatially encode the entire graph structure without relying on data at the level of individual nodes. Anonymous random walks enabled us to encapsulate the structure of a graph regardless of the specific node labels. That is, random walks that visited different nodes in the same sequence resulted in the same anonymous walk encoding. We have analyzed the EEG data offline and matched each possible pair of players from the entire pool of players that performed a series of tacit coordination games. Specifically, we compared between two network patterns associated with each possible pair of players. By using classification performed on the spatial distance between each pair of individual brain patterns, analyzed by the random walk algorithm, we tried to predict whether each possible pair of players has managed to converge on the same solution in each tacit coordination game. Specifically, the distance between a pair of vector embeddings, each associated with one of the players, was used as input for a classification model for the purpose of predicting whether the two corresponding players have managed to achieve successful coordination. Our model reached a classification accuracy of ~85%.

How do accounts pass? A discussion of Vollmer’s “Accounting for tacit coordination”

PurposeBuilding on the notes prepared for a roundtable organized by qualitative research in accounting & management (QRAM) about the paper titled “Accounting for tacit coordination: The passing of accounts and the broader case for accounting theory” (Vollmer, 2019), this paper aims to extend our understanding of “tacit coordination towards the passing of accounts” and its implications for research on accounting as a social practice.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on a selective review of previous studies of accounting “in action” and one illustrative vignette, this paper teases out specific aspects of Vollmer’s argument, which is much broader and ambitious in nature. The aim is to go deeper on one issue – “tacit coordination towards the passing of accounts” and the role of (accounting) practitioners as “stewards of silence” – to encourage further work that unpacks the dynamics and tensions that occur when practitioners seek to tacitly coordinate towards the passing of accounts.FindingsThis paper shows how our understanding of the relationship between “tacit coordination” and the “passing of accounts” can be enriched by examining how (accounting) practitioners deal with pressures towards explication. To this end, this paper develops three propositions, which focus on how organizational status, organizational complexity and temporal dynamics may affect the extent to which (accounting) practitioners are able to tacitly coordinate towards the passing of accounts.Practical implicationsThe three propositions presented in this paper can be used in future studies to further explore the dynamics of tacit coordination towards the passing of accounts and therefore contribute to a more fine-grained illustration of some of the ideas presented in the paper by Vollmer (2019).Originality/valueThis paper sketches the contours of an approach that has the potential to make some of the ambitious ideas presented in Vollmer’s paper more actionable in future studies.

Whereof one cannot speak … a comment on Vollmer (2019)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual reflection based on the author’s personal research experience, reading of the literature and contact with the academic education of emerging scholars. Design/methodology/approach In this reflection on the paper “Accounting for tacit coordination: The passing of accounts and the broader case for accounting theory” (Vollmer, 2019), the author argues that the silences of the qualitative empirical management accounting research process may preclude research from understanding the silences of accounting practitioners and shape the trajectory of the discipline as a whole. Findings The author presents a slightly exaggerated depiction of the qualitative empirical management accounting research process. From this, the author infers what impedes empirically studying unorthodox phenomena such as the silences of accounting practitioners. Originality/value The author offers a critical perspective on the author’s own research process, using accounting silences as way of reflecting on the potential and limitations of empirical research. Finally, the author makes tentative suggestions for opening up the standard research process.

Mergers, Acquisitions and Merger Control in an Algorithmic Pricing World

Abstract This paper considers whether pricing algorithms present novel issues that existing merger control frameworks and practices are inadequate to address, particularly in relation to pre-merger disclosure of pricing algorithms and the suitability of current tests and remedies for addressing coordinated effects. Through a comparative and critical analysis of the merger control regimes and practices of the European Union, United Kingdom, and Australia, this paper finds that whilst such regimes and practices are broadly adequate for dealing with algorithmic transactions, there are nonetheless potential areas for improvement. Disclosure of a pricing algorithm may contravene prohibitions on the sharing of competitively sensitive information. As such, merger parties may need to rethink aspects of their usual due diligence procedures. Pricing algorithms may also increase the potential for coordinated effects to arise in some markets that would ordinarily have been considered too complex, asymmetric, opaque, or insufficiently concentrated for tacit coordination to occur, or be used to retaliate more effectively against deviations from a coordinated equilibrium, or to raise the height of barriers to entry. Competition authorities may therefore need to amend their standard approach to investigating and assessing coordinated effects, as well as their traditional approach to remedies.

Tacit coordination as a background practice to accounting practices – reflections on Vollmer’s case for a sociological super-theory of accounting

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is primarily methodological. This paper aims to complement the novel sociological argument of Hendrik Vollmer’s paper on tacit coordination of accounting practices with a more familiar theory of accounting practice nexuses that has been stimulating an emerging stream of accounting research. The intention is to suggest some ways in which Vollmer’s ideas can be given traction, especially in field studies of accounting.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses Theodore Schatzki’s practice theory to explore some of the ways in which elements of tacit coordination might be researched in accounting field studies.FindingsTacit coordination can be understood as a background practice that could operate as a dispersed practice in Schatzki’s sense. A practice theory perspective on tacit coordination is suggestive of a number of ways of studying the meaningful cultural contexts as part of which accounting operates. It emphasises, in particular, the active nature of silent, tacit coordination; attending to general knowledge practical know-how, rules and teleoaffectivity as four determinants of practices as specified by Schatzki; and the materiality of coordination.Research limitations/implicationsIt has implications for field research insofar as it heightens the researcher’s awareness of tacit coordination as a potentially important set of practices and suggests a number of approaches for studying them. The main suggestions address some of the ways in which tacit coordination can be identified in field research.Originality/valueThis study reflects on the dispersed or integrated nature of tacit coordination practices in accounting.

EEG Pattern Classification of Picking and Coordination Using Anonymous Random Walks

Tacit coordination games are games where players are trying to select the same solution without any communication between them. Various theories have attempted to predict behavior in tacit coordination games. Until now, research combining tacit coordination games with electrophysiological measures was mainly based on spectral analysis. In contrast, EEG coherence enables the examination of functional and morphological connections between brain regions. Hence, we aimed to differentiate between different cognitive conditions using coherence patterns. Specifically, we have designed a method that predicts the class label of coherence graph patterns extracted out of multi-channel EEG epochs taken from three conditions: a no-task condition and two cognitive tasks, picking and coordination. The classification process was based on a coherence graph extracted out of the EEG record. To assign each graph into its appropriate label, we have constructed a hierarchical classifier. First, we have distinguished between the resting-state condition and the other two cognitive tasks by using a bag of node degrees. Next, to distinguish between the two cognitive tasks, we have implemented an anonymous random walk. Our classification model achieved a total accuracy value of 96.55%.

Shining light on corporate political spending: Evidence from shareholder engagements

With surges in U.S. corporate political spending following the Supreme Court’s decision on Citizens United v. FEC, this paper studies the transparency of corporate political spending. We argue that shareholder engagements aimed at improving such transparency are more successful than previously documented in the literature. Some “voluntary” disclosures by firms are the result of settled engagements. Firms with political action committees, weaker political transparency, more politically connected directors, and higher sensitivity to political uncertainty are more likely to be targeted by activist shareholders. Institutional investors, especially socially responsible investment funds, are more likely to succeed after initiating engagements. Using hand-collected public announcements of engagement outcomes, we find that the stock market reacts positively (negatively) to successful (unsuccessful) engagements in politically active firms. Moreover, increased transparency facilitates the investors’ assessment of firms’ exposure to external political risks, the monitoring of firms’ political expenditure, and tacit coordination among industry peers. Collectively, our results suggest that investors value corporate political transparency, especially in the case of politically active firms.

Modeling and predicting individual tacit coordination ability

BackgroundPrevious experiments in tacit coordination games hinted that some people are more successful in achieving coordination than others, although the variability in this ability has not yet been examined before. With that in mind, the overarching aim of our study is to model and describe the variability in human decision-making behavior in the context of tacit coordination games.MethodsIn this study, we conducted a large-scale experiment to collect behavioral data, characterized the distribution of tacit coordination ability, and modeled the decision-making behavior of players. First, we measured the multimodality in the data and described it by using a Gaussian mixture model. Then, using multivariate linear regression and dimensionality reduction (PCA), we have constructed a model linking between individual strategic profiles of players and their coordination ability. Finally, we validated the predictive performance of the model by using external validation.ResultsWe demonstrated that coordination ability is best described by a multimodal distribution corresponding to the levels of coordination ability and that there is a significant relationship between the player’s strategic profile and their coordination ability. External validation determined that our predictive model is robust.ConclusionsThe study provides insight into the amount of variability that exists in individual tacit coordination ability as well as in individual strategic profiles and shows that both are quite diverse. Our findings may facilitate the construction of improved algorithms for human–machine interaction in diverse contexts. Additional avenues for future research are discussed.

An Electrophysiological Model for Assessing Cognitive Load in Tacit Coordination Games.

Previously, it was shown that some people are better coordinators than others; however, the relative weight of intuitive (system 1) versus deliberate (system 2) modes of thinking in tacit coordination tasks is still not resolved. To address this question, we have extracted an electrophysiological index, the theta-beta ratio (TBR), from the Electroencephalography (EEG) recorded from participants while they were engaged in a semantic coordination task. Results have shown that individual coordination ability, game difficulty and response time are each positively correlated with cognitive load. These results suggest that better coordinators rely more on complex thought process and on more deliberate thinking while coordinating. The model we have presented may be used for the assessment of the depth of reasoning individuals engage in when facing different tasks requiring different degrees of allocation of resources. The findings as well as future research directions are discussed.

Distribution Channel Relationships in the Presence of Multimarket Contact

Traditional analyses of firms that compete in multiple markets examine settings in which firms sell directly to consumers. However, in many industries, firms sell their products through intermediaries. Importantly, these firms usually have common intermediaries, and the degree of this overlap varies across markets and over time. We empirically study the effect of the asymmetry of distribution channel relationship overlap across markets on retail prices. An increase in distribution channel relationship asymmetry can provide firms with an enhanced ability to punish rivals through shared distribution relationships in addition to shared markets. This increased ability to punish can then soften competition (increase prices), that is, the mutual forbearance mechanism. However, an increase in distribution channel relationship asymmetry can also make it difficult for firms to pursue similar goals with their rivals, and thus weakening the potential for tacit coordination. This can then intensify competition (reduce prices), that is, the goal congruence mechanism. Due to these opposing mechanisms, the net impact of distribution channel relationship asymmetry on competitive intensity is not clear. Using extensive scanner panel data for multiple product categories, on average, we find that an increase in distribution channel relationship asymmetry results in higher retail prices. Consistent with the mutual forbearance mechanism, this effect becomes more positive (or less negative) when (i) the manufacturer size or the number of retail stores in the focal market increases or (ii) when the manufacturer is a public (vs. private) firm. Conversely, the effect becomes less positive when the strategic similarity among manufacturers increases, in line with the goal congruence mechanism.

Level-K Classification from EEG Signals Using Transfer Learning.

Tacit coordination games are games in which communication between the players is not allowed or not possible. In these games, the more salient solutions, that are often perceived as more prominent, are referred to as focal points. The level-k model states that players’ decisions in tacit coordination games are a consequence of applying different decision rules at different depths of reasoning (level-k). A player at will randomly pick a solution, whereas a player will apply their strategy based on their beliefs regarding the actions of the other players. The goal of this study was to examine, for the first time, the neural correlates of different reasoning levels in tacit coordination games. To that end, we have designed a combined behavioral-electrophysiological study with 3 different conditions, each resembling a different depth reasoning state: (1) resting state, (2) picking, and (3) coordination. By utilizing transfer learning and deep learning, we were able to achieve a precision of almost 100% (99.49%) for the resting-state condition, while for the picking and coordination conditions, the precision was 69.53% and 72.44%, respectively. The application of these findings and related future research options are discussed.

The sociality of minimizing involvement in self-service shops in Denmark: Customers’ multi-modal practices of being, getting, and staying out of the way

For some customers, the corona pandemic has turned e-shopping into a fine alternative to shopping in brick-and-mortar shops. For other customers in quarantine e-shopping is the only alternative. The long-lasting pandemic, however, has reminded us of the importance of social contacts and interactions – even if it’s just to go the supermarket to ‘mingle’. This paper investigates what ‘mingle’ means when shopping in physical self-service shops amongst unacquainted others in Denmark. It describes customers’ practice of doing self-service by organizing interaction to minimize social involvement. It shows how they, as a matter of fact, co-ordinate their conduct in ways that hampers possibilities for engaging in even small ‘ritual’ exchanges of talk. The paper draws upon a corpus of video recordings of customers’ self-service practices in shops in Denmark. In addition, the customers’ gaze was recorded with the mobile Tobii Pro X3 eye tracker. The study falls within the realm of ethnomethodological and conversation analytic studies of multimodal interaction. It concludes that self-service is achieved through co-present customers’ tacit coordination of multimodal actions in social interaction and that their practices work to achieve ‘effortlessly’ and ‘spontaneously’ being, getting, and staying out of the way, which seems to be an ideal for self-service shopping. Talk and moreover having a conversation seems to be an impediment to it.

Predicting focal point solution in divergent interest tacit coordination games

ABSTRACT In divergent interest tacit coordination games there is a tradeoff between selecting a solution with a high individual payoff and one which is perceptually more salient to both players, i.e., a focal point. To construct a cognitive model of decision making in such games we need to consider both the social value orientation of the players and the game features. Therefore, the goal of this study was to construct a cognitive model for predicting the probability of selecting a focal point solution in these types of games. Using bootstrap aggregated ensemble of decision trees that was trained on the “bargaining table’ game behavioural data were able to predict when players will select a focal point solution. The binary classification achieved an accuracy level of 85%. The main contribution of the current study is the ability to model players behaviour based on the interaction between different SVOs and game features. This interaction enabled us to gain different insights regarding player’s behaviour. For example, a prosocial player often showed a tendency towards focal point solutions even when their personal gains were lower than that of the co-player. Thus, SVO is not a sufficient model for explaining behaviour in different divergent interest scenarios.

Using a Stochastic Agent Model to Optimize Performance in Divergent Interest Tacit Coordination Games.

In recent years collaborative robots have become major market drivers in industry 5.0, which aims to incorporate them alongside humans in a wide array of settings ranging from welding to rehabilitation. Improving human–machine collaboration entails using computational algorithms that will save processing as well as communication cost. In this study we have constructed an agent that can choose when to cooperate using an optimal strategy. The agent was designed to operate in the context of divergent interest tacit coordination games in which communication between the players is not possible and the payoff is not symmetric. The agent’s model was based on a behavioral model that can predict the probability of a player converging on prominent solutions with salient features (e.g., focal points) based on the player’s Social Value Orientation (SVO) and the specific game features. The SVO theory pertains to the preferences of decision makers when allocating joint resources between themselves and another player in the context of behavioral game theory. The agent selected stochastically between one of two possible policies, a greedy or a cooperative policy, based on the probability of a player to converge on a focal point. The distribution of the number of points obtained by the autonomous agent incorporating the SVO in the model was better than the results obtained by the human players who played against each other (i.e., the distribution associated with the agent had a higher mean value). Moreover, the distribution of points gained by the agent was better than any of the separate strategies the agent could choose from, namely, always choosing a greedy or a focal point solution. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to construct an intelligent agent that maximizes its utility by incorporating the belief system of the player in the context of tacit bargaining. This reward-maximizing strategy selection process based on the SVO can also be potentially applied in other human–machine contexts, including multiagent systems.

The differential impact of friendship on cooperative and competitive coordination

Friendship is commonly assumed to reduce strategic uncertainty and enhance tacit coordination. However, this assumption has never been tested across two opposite poles of coordination involving either strategic complementarity or substitutability. We had participants interact with friends or strangers in two classic coordination games: the stag-hunt game, which exhibits strategic complementarity and may foster “cooperation”, and the entry game, which exhibits strategic substitutability and may foster “competition”. Both games capture a frequent trade-off between a potentially high paying but uncertain option and a low paying but safe alternative. We find that, relative to strangers, friends are more likely to choose options involving uncertainty in stag-hunt games, but the opposite is true in entry games. Furthermore, in stag-hunt games, friends “tremble” less between options, coordinate better and earn more, but these advantages are largely decreased or lost in entry games. We further investigate how these effects are modulated by risk attitudes, friendship qualities, and interpersonal similarities.

Focal Moments and Protests in Autocracies: How Pro-democracy Anniversaries Shape Dissent in China

Social scientists have long observed that focal points enable citizens to coordinate collective action. For antiregime protests in autocracies, however, focal points also enable repressive governments to prepare in advance. We propose a theory to explain when citizens are likely to employ focal points to organize antiregime protests. Our key insight is that tacit coordination is most critical when explicit coordination is costly. Empirically, we use our theory to identify a setting where focal points are likely to be salient and then argue that the anniversaries of failed pro-democracy movements satisfy conditions for focality. In China, we find that the anniversaries of failed pro-democracy movements occasion nearly 30 percent more protests than any other day. Protests during pro-democracy anniversaries are more likely to employ “rights-conscious” discourse, which scholars have argued is code for democratic resistance, and to be repressed by the government. We find no similar trends for other holidays.