On simple contracts, renegotiation under asymmetric information, and the hold-up problem

In this paper it is demonstrated that voluntary bargaining over a collective decision under asymmetric information may well lead to ex post efficiency if the default decision is non-trivial. It is argued that the default decision may be interpreted as a 'simple' contract that the parties have written ex ante. This result is used in order to show that simple unconditional contracts which are renegotiated may allow the hold-up problem to be solved, even if the parties' valuations are private information.Contract theory; Private information; Hold-up problem

A Theory of Authority in Bilateral Contracting

Two players are involved in a joint project during which a decision must be reached. Each player has private information about future profits. Authority gives one player the right to decide first in a pre-defined set of alternatives. In this framework, I show that (partial) authority should be assigned to the player who gets the highest share of the total surplus. This organizational architecture replicates the performance of an optimal revelation mechanism without the cost of hiring a third party acting as a principal.Contract, asymmetric information, control rights, limited liability, hidden information

Ratifiable Mechanisms: Learning from Disagreement

In a mechanism design problem, participation constraints require that all types prefer the proposed mechanism to some status quo. If equilibrium play in the status quo mechanism depends on the players' beliefs, then the inference drawn if someone objects to the proposed mechanism may alter the participation constraints. We investigate this issue by modeling the mechanism design problem as a two-stage process, consisting of a ratification stage followed by the actual play of the chosen game. We develop and illustrate a new concept, ratifiability, that takes account of inferences from a veto in a consistent way.Sequential Games; Mechanism Design; Private Information

On extended liability in a model of adverse selection

We consider a model where a judgment-proof firm needs finance to realize a project. This project might cause an environmental hazard with a probability that is the private knowledge of the firm. Thus there is asymmetric information with respect to the environmental riskiness of the project. We consider the implications of a simple joint and strict liability rule on the lender and the firm where, in case of a damage, the lender is responsible for that part of the liability which the judgment-proof firm cannot pay. We use a weighted version of the neutral bargaining solution (Myerson 1983 / 1984) to determine the financial contract between the lender and the firm. In the given model we show that either full or a punitive liability is optimal.judgement proofness, extended liability, neutral bargaining solution.

Copmment on Egalitarianism under Incomplete Information

The paper aims at extending the egalitarian principle to environments with incomplete information. The approach is primarily axiomatic, focusing on the characteristic property of monotonicity: no member of the society should be worse off when more collective decisions are available. I start by showing the incompat- ibility of this property with incentive efficiency, even in quasi-linear environments. This serious impossibility result does not follow from the mere presence of incentive constraints, but instead from the fact that information is incomplete (asymmetric information at the time of making a decision). I then weaken the monotonicity property so as to require it only when starting from incentive compatible mecha- nisms at which interim utilities are transferable (in a weak sense). Adding other axioms in the spirit of Kalai's (Econometrica, 1977, Theorem 1) classical character- ization of the egalitarian principle under complete information, I obtain a partial characterization of a natural extension of the lex-min solution to problems with incomplete information. Next, I prove that, in each social choice problem, there is a unique way of rescaling the participants' interim utilities so as to make this solu- tion compatible with the ex-ante utilitarian principle. These two criteria coincides in the rescaled utilities exactly at the incentive ecient mechanisms that maxi- mize Harsanyi and Selten's (Management Science, 1972) weighted Nash product. These concepts are illustrated on classical examples of profit-sharing, public good production and bilateral trade. The richness of the topic of social choice under in- complete information is illustrated by considering two alternative extensions of the egalitarian principle { one based on an idea of equity from the point of view of the individuals themselves (given their private information) instead of an uninformed third party (social planner or arbitrator), and another notion based on the idea of