An Experiment on Prisoner’s Dilemma with Confirmed Proposals

We apply an alternating proposals protocol with a confirmation stage as a way of solving a Prisoner’s Dilemma game. We interpret players’ proposals and (no) confirmation of outcomes of the game as a tacit communication device. The protocol leads to unprecedented high levels of cooperation in the laboratory. Assigning the power of confirmation to one of the two players alone, rather than alternating the role of a leader significantly increases the probability of signing a cooperative agreement in the first bargaining period. We interpret pre-agreement strategies as tacit messages on players’ willingness to cooperate and on their beliefs about the others’ type.Prisoner’s Dilemma; Bargaining; Confirmed Proposals; Confirmed Agreement; Tacit Communication.

Information, fairness, and efficiency in bargaining

Economic theory assumes people strive for efficient agreements that benefit all consenting parties. The frequency of mutually destructive conflicts such as strikes, litigation, and military conflict, therefore, poses an important challenge to the field

Learning from Strike

This paper reports on an experimental study of the influence of asymmetric information and information spillovers on bargaining outcomes. It develops and tests Kuhn and Gu (1999) s model of learning in sequential wage negotiations, by means of two Ultimatum Bargaining Games with uncertainty on the proposer s side. Evidence shows that Dunlop s assertion of inflationary wage claims does not hold systematically and strike incidence is lowered by information spillovers, since claims are revised according to the previous bargaining outcomes. However, in the presence of fairness concerns, the ability to observe outcomes but not the bargaining process does not entail a reduction in information asymmetry sufficient to guarantee Pareto improving bargaining outcomes. Ce papier présente une étude expérimentale sur l'influence des asymétries d'information et de la diffusion de l'information entre firmes sur l'issue des négociations. Nous proposons un prolongement ainsi qu'un test du modèle de Kuhn et Gu (1999) concernant l'apprentissage dans des négociations séquentielles. Nous utilisons pour cela deux jeux d'ultimatum avec incertitude du coté du proposant. Les résultats expérimentaux montrent que l'hypothèse de Dunlop d'un biais inflationniste systématique des revendications salariales n'est jamais vérifiée et que conformément aux prédictions de Kuhn et Gu, la probabilité d'apparition d'une grève diminue en présence de diffusion de l'information. En effet, une révision des demandes en fonction du résultat des négociations passées est observée dans les données expérimentales. Pourtant, observer seulement le résultat des négociations passées et non le processus de négociation ne suffit à garantir une augmentation Pareto optimale des gains des joueurs. Les préoccupations d'équité entravent les effets bénéfiques de la diffusion de l'information entre firmes.Asymmetric Information, Experiments, Learning, Strikes, Ultimatum Bargaining Games, Asymétrie d'information, Expérimantations, Apprentissage, Grève, Jeux d'ultimatum

Learning from Strikes

This paper reports on an experimental study of the influence of asymmetric information and information spillovers on bargaining outcomes. It develops and tests Kuhn and Gu's model (1999) of learning in sequential wage negotiations, by means of two Ultimatum Bargaining Games with uncertainty on the proposer's side. Evidence shows that Dunlop's assertion of inflationary wage demands does not systematically hold and strike incidence is lowered by information spillovers, since demands are revised according to previous bargaining outcomes. However, in the presence of fairness concerns, the ability to observe outcomes but not the bargaining process does not entail a sufficient reduction in information asymmetry to a point of guaranteeing Pareto-improved bargaining outcomes.asymmetric information; experimental economics; learning; strikes; ultimatum bargaining games

Applications of Negotiation Theory to Water Issues

The purpose of the paper is to review the applications of non-cooperative bargaining theory to water related issues – which fall in the category of formal models of negotiation. The ultimate aim is that to, on the one hand, identify the conditions under which agreements are likely to emerge, and their characteristics; and, on the other hand, to support policy makers in devising the “rules of the game” that could help obtain a desired result. Despite the fact that allocation of natural resources, especially of trans-boundary nature, has all the characteristics of a negotiation problem, there are not many applications of formal negotiation theory to the issue. Therefore, this paper first discusses the non-cooperative bargaining models applied to water allocation problems found in the literature. Particular attention will be given to those directly modelling the process of negotiation, although some attempts at finding strategies to maintain the efficient allocation solution will also be illustrated. In addition, this paper will focus on Negotiation Support Systems (NSS), developed to support the process of negotiation. This field of research is still relatively new, however, and NSS have not yet found much use in real life negotiation. The paper will conclude by highlighting the key remaining gaps in the literature.Negotiation theory, Water, Agreeements, Stochasticity, Stakeholders

What’s love got to do with it ? An experimental test of household models in East Uganda

We test core theories of the household using variants of a public good game and experimental data from 240 couples in rural Uganda. Spouses do not maximise surplus from cooperation and realise a greater surplus when women are in charge. This violates assumptions of unitary and cooperative models. When women control the common account, they receive less than when men control it; this contradicts standard bargaining models. Women contribute less than men and are rewarded more generously by men than vice versa. This casts doubt on postulates in Sen (1990). While the absence of altruism is rejected, we find evidence for opportunism. The results are put in a socioeconomic context using quantitative and qualitative survey data. Assortative matching and correlates of bargaining power influence behaviour within the experiments. Our findings suggest that a .one-size fits all. model of the household is unlikely to be satisfactory.

On ultimatum bargaining experiments: A personal review

Bargaining

Efficiency, equality and labelling: an experimental investigation of focal points in explicit bargaining

Efficiency, equality and labelling: an experimental investigation of focal points in explicit bargainin

Never retreat, never surrender: The bargaining power of commitment in the Hawk-Dove game

This paper studies experimentally the conditions that improve bargaining power using threats in a negotiation process. Following Schelling’s (1960) ideas we choose the hawk-dove game because is the simplest negotiation environment with inequity distribution in equilibrium. The analysis is focused on three essential elements of commitment: the possibility of a player to announce his own actions, the credibility of these messages and the experience acquired in the negotiation process. The empirical evidence shows that, in the first period, subjects do not realize the bargaining power of commitment. When the game is repeated and experience increases, subjects gradually understand the advantages of a threat, turning the payoffs into their favor. Credibility is also relevant for the relation, if subjects can choose their message, it is common to find strategic liars, and their rivals punish this behavior.Credible threats, negotiation, experiments