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For those about to talk we salute you: an experimental study of credible deviations and ACDC

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Adrian de Groot Ruiz ,
Theo Offerman  and
Sander Onderstal
Adrian de Groot Ruiz*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Institute for Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9108, 6500 HK Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Theo Offerman*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Amsterdam, Roetersstraat 11, 1018 WB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Sander Onderstal*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Amsterdam, Roetersstraat 11, 1018 WB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*
a.grootruiz@fm.ru.nl
T.J.S.Offerman@uva.nl
onderstal@uva.nl
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Abstract

We test the Average Credible Deviation Criterion (ACDC), a stability measure and refinement for cheap talk equilibria introduced in De Groot Ruiz et al. (Equilibrium selection in cheap talk games: ACDC rocks when other criteria remain silent, Working paper, University of Amsterdam 2012a). ACDC has been shown to be predictive under general conditions and to organize data well in previous experiments meant to test other concepts. In a new experimental setting, we provide the first systematic test of whether and to which degree credible deviations matter for the stability of cheap talk equilibria. Our principal experimental result is that in a setting where existing concepts are silent, credible deviations matter and matter gradually, as predicted by ACDC.

Keywords

Cheap talkRefinementSelectionExperimentNeologism proofnessAnnouncement proofnessACDC

JEL classification

C92: Laboratory, Group Behavior D83: Search • Learning • Information and Knowledge • Communication • Belief • Unawareness C72: Noncooperative Games D82: Asymmetric and Private Information • Mechanism Design
Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Economics , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 173 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Economic Science Association

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Footnotes

Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article (doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-013-9362-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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