Entrepreneurship Game   One player in each pair bets on each

flip (up to maximum of 3 coins)   Winner of the bet takes the coins from

the loser, regardless of who flipped or made the bet

  Players must flip quickly & cannot stop betting

  Players cannot borrow coins once they go bankrupt

  If bankrupt, players are out of the game

  When time is called, stop & count your coins

Guess the Results of Our Game?

20+

15-19

10-14

5-9

1-4

0

# of

coi

ns

Rounds

Why Did “X” Do So Well?

Why This Outcome? Given the structure of the game

and the equally high skill level, human capital, and wealth of all the players, a skewed distribution was inevitable.

Why This Outcome? Given the structure of the game

and the equally high skill level, human capital, and wealth of all the players, a skewed distribution was inevitable.

Winner Take All!

Distribution of Firm Size (U.S.)

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

2 7 15 60 300 500

Number  of  Employees

Numbe

r  of  F

irms  (000

s)

Distribution of Corporate Assets (U.S.)

0

1

10

100

1,000

10,000

0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000

Ass

ets

(log

scal

e)

Number of Firms

Things Would Have Been Different If Players…

  Started the game with different #’s of coins   Wealth inequality

  Could borrow coins   Access to credit – capital markets

  Could play in groups   Coalitions, alliances, pooling resources,

organized crime?

  Paid taxes when rich or received subsidies when poor   Government intervention

  Could withdraw from the game or buffer themselves against competition   Local isolation, creation of IP or other

competitive barrier

Lessons   Baseline against which to judge

population level outcomes…   …In other words, don’t be too

arrogant or too judgmental!

  There ARE “rules of the game”

  Challenge: How to define, manage or limit the scope of competition?