Pure Coordination

Per (Scotchmer) pure coordination isn’t about conflict, it’s about coordination: coordinating to make a decision that is the Pareto optimal and also mutually beneficial. Two Nash equilibria exist. No communication exists prior to decision making, leaving salience and convention to be the decider of the Nash equilibrium. Pure coordination can be applied to a situation where everyone’s incentives align, with correct coordination being the main barrier to the optimal outcome.

Scotchmer, Liam. “Pure Coordination.” Polonomic Papers, 2019, polonomicpapers.com/pure-coordination. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.