APPROXIMATE CORES OF GAMES AND ECONOMIES WITH CLUBS

Abstract

We introduce the framework of parameterized collections of games with and without side payments and provide three no emptiness of approximate core theorems for games in parameterized collections. The parameters bound (a) the number of approximate types of players and the size of the approximation and (b) the size of nearly effective groups of players and their distance from exact electiveness. The theorems are based on a new notion of partition-balanced profiles and approximately partition-balanced profiles. The results are applied to a new model of an economy with clubs. In contrast to the extant literature, our approach allows both widespread externalities and uniform results.cooperative games ; clubs ; local public goods ; approximate cores ; effective small groups ; parameterized collections of games