Legislative Bargaining and Coalition Formation

The finite horizon version of D. P. Baron and J. Ferejohn's [1989, Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev.83, 1181-1206] legislative bargaining model is investigated. With three or more periods, a continuum of divisions is supportable as subgame perfect equilib- ria. There exist equilibria where coalitions larger than a minimal winning coalition receive strictly positive shares. With sufficiently patient players and a sufficiently long horizon, any interior distribution is supportable as an equilibrium. In contrast, a generic uniqueness result applies when introducing heterogenous time preferences. The unique backwards induction equilibrium in the perturbed game is nonstationary, and neither the original (symmetric) nor the perturbed game provides guidance for equilibrium selection in the infinite game. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C73, C78, D72, D78, H49.     

A New Bargaining Set of an N-Person Game and Endogenous Coalition Formation

The two most fundamental questions in cooperative game theory are: When a game is played, what coalitions will be formed and what payoff vectors will be chosen? Few solution concepts or theories in the current literature provide satisfactory answers to both questions; answers are especially lacking for the first one. In this paper we introduce a new bargaining set, which is the first solution concept in cooperative game theory that provides answers to both fundamental questions endogenously. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Number: C71.     

Social Learning in a Common Interest Voting Game

This paper describes the experimental results of a dynamic voting game. Subjects are induced with common preferences, but have asymmetric and incomplete information about the payoff-generating behavior of two available proposals. The election process serves as a mechanism to gather the dispersed information. It is shown that subjects are more effective in coordinating their decisions to a socially optimal equilibrium when they get more experienced. The way they succeed in doing this is by paying less attention to the popularity of a proposal.Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Numbers: D72, D82.     

Cabinet Formation in Coalition Systems

Theoretical and empirical issues concerning the political bargaining process over cabinet formation in coalition systems are addressed in this paper. A set of theoretical predictions is tested using a sample of 13 western European countries observed throughout the period 1950–1995. It appears that the formation delay is increasing in the degree of ideological heterogeneity of coalition partners and that the share of portfolios secured by the formateur is decreasing in the degree of complexity of the bargaining environment. A few factors affecting the degree to which the outcome of the negotiation process can be defined as balanced are also identified.     

Coalition Formation and Potential Games

In this paper we study the formation of coalition structures in situations described by a cooperative game. Players choose independently which coalition they want to join. The payoffs to the players are determined by an allocation rule on the underlying game and the coalition structure that results from the strategies of the players according to some formation rule. We study two well-known coalition structure formation rules and show that for both formation rules there exists a unique component-efficient allocation rule that results in a potential game. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C71, C72.     

Coalition Formation with Binding Agreements

We study coalition formation in "real time", a situation in which coalition formation is intertwined with the ongoing receipt of pay-offs. Agreements are assumed to be permanently binding: They can only be altered with the full consent of existing signatories. For characteristic function games we prove that equilibrium processes—whether or not these are history dependent—must converge to efficient absorbing states. For three-player games with externalities each player has enough veto power that a general efficiency result can be established. However, there exist four-player games in which all Markov equilibria are inefficient from every initial condition, despite the ability to write permanently binding agreements.     

A Theory of Gradual Coalition Formation

We study noncooperative multilateral bargaining games, based on underlying TU games, in which coalitions can renegotiate their agreements. We distinguish between models in which players continue to bargain after implementing agreements ("reversible actions") and models in which players who implement agreements must leave the game ("irreversible actions"). We show that renegotiation always results in formation of the grand coalition if actions are reversible, but that the process may otherwise end with smaller coalitions. On the other hand, we show that the grand coalition cannot form in one step if the core of the game is empty, irrespective of the reversibility of actions.     

Job Matching and Coalition Formation with Utility or Disutility of Co-workers

This paper studies the job matching market in Kelso and Crawford (1982), Econometrica50, 1483–1504, with one exception, that co-workers may generate utility or disutility in the workplace. We provide a simple idea to show how a great number of sufficient conditions for a nonempty core in the literature can be extended to this labor market. A generalized competitive equilibrium with a tax/subsidy system is also discussed. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Number: D71.     

Pure Strategy Nash Equilibrium in a Group Formation Game with Positive Externalities

This paper identifies a domain of payoff functions inno spillovernoncooperative games withPositive externalitywhich admit a pure strategy Nash equilibrium. Since in general a Nash equilibrium may fail to exist, in order to guarantee the existence of an equilibrium, we impose two additional assumptions,AnonymityandOrder preservation. The proof of our main result is carried out by constructing, for a given gameG, a potential function Ψ over the set of strategy profiles in such a way that the maximum of Ψ yields a Nash equilibrium in pure strategies ofG.Journal of Economics LiteratureClassification Numbers: C72, D62, H73.     

Voting as a signaling device

In this paper, citizens vote in order to influence the election outcome and in order to signal their unobserved characteristics to others. The model is one of rational voting and generates the following predictions: (i) The paradox of not voting does not arise, because the benefit of voting does not vanish with population size. (ii) Turnout in elections is positively related to the importance of social interactions. (iii) Voting may exhibit bandwagon effects and small changes in the electoral incentives may generate large changes in turnout due to signaling effects. (iv) Signaling incentives increase the sensitivity of turnout to voting incentives in communities with low opportunity cost of social interaction, while the opposite is true for communities with high cost of social interaction. Therefore, the model predicts less volatile turnout for the latter type of communities.     

Modeling the Legislator as an Agent for the Party: The Effects of Strict Party Discipline on Legislator Voting Behavior

This article argues that in legislative systems where absolute party discipline is present, the only means by which a legislator can dissent from the party position is to abstain from voting. It is argued that abstentions are more likely to occur where the party-imposed position causes conflict for the legislator—either because the party-imposed position conflicts with the interests of the legislator's constituents or because it conflicts with the legislator's personal ideology. The hypothesis is empirically tested by examining voting in the Canadian House of Commons on the bill to implement the politically controversial Canada–U.S. Free Trade Agreement. The empirical results lend general support to the theoretical notions. (JEL D70 , D72 )     

Coalition formation as a dynamic process

We study coalition formation as an ongoing, dynamic process, with payoffs generated as coalitions form, disintegrate, or regroup. A process of coalition formation (PCF) is an equilibrium if a coalitional move to some other state can be “justified” by the expectation of higher future value, compared to inaction. This future value, in turn, is endogenous: it depends on coalitional movements at each node. We study existence of equilibrium PCFs. We connect deterministic equilibrium PCFs with unique absorbing state to the core, and equilibrium PCFs with multiple absorbing states to the largest consistent set. In addition, we study cyclical as well as stochastic equilibrium PCFs.     

Coalition governments in a model of parliamentary democracy

We analyse a model of coalition government in a parliamentary democracy where parties care both for ideology and perks from office, and examine how the magnitude of this tradeoff affects the nature of coalitions that form. It is shown that equilibrium coalitions can be minimal winning, minority or surplus and they may be ideologically disconnected. The types of coalitions that emerge depend upon the relative importance of rents from office and the distribution of party ideologies. Further, there is a non-monotonic relationship between ideological connectedness of coalitions and rents from office.     

Bankruptcy "Reform" in Congress: Creditors, Committees, Ideology, and Floor Voting in the Legislative Process

Both ideology and interest group interventions are importantin voting on bankruptcy legislation. Roughly 15 votes in theU.S. House of Representatives appear to have been changed directlythrough interest group pressures proxied by campaign contributions.Many more could have been changed if resources could be fullydevoted to spot purchases, but most contributions appear tohave been aimed at maintaining legislation on the agenda. Inthe U.S. Senate, state interests in homestead exemptions influencedvoting. Although committee markups demonstrate an ideologicallineup that is not distinct from floor voting, committees promotebargaining on destabilizing issues.     

Party Formation and Policy Outcomes under Different Electoral Systems

I introduce a model of representative democracy with strategic parties, strategic candidates, strategic voters and multiple districts. If policy preferences are similar across districts and not too concentrated within districts, then the number of effective parties is larger under proportional representation (PR) than under plurality, and both electoral systems determine the median voter's preferred policy. However, for more asymmetric distributions of preferences the Duvergerian predictions can be reversed , and the policy outcome with PR is more moderate than the one with plurality. Sincere voting induces more party formation, and strategic voting can be observed more often under PR.     

Asymmetric Equilibria in a Model with Costly Voting

Most of the voting models limit their analysis to the investigation of symmetric equilibria where “similar” voters make “similar” voting decisions. In this paper we examine the validity of this restriction in a model with costly plurality voting. We first show that in any pure strategy equilibrium every two individuals who have the same preferences and participate in elections, would vote for the same candidate. However, this result does not hold for mixed strategies equilibria.     

国有资产并购价格的形成机制与合谋风险防范

文章研究了公司并购价格尤其是国有企业并购价格的形成机制.首先讨论了在非合作博弈前提下,强制一次成交与多回合讨价还价的解空间;然后引入交易主持人的效用函数,分析合谋操纵下的价格扭曲及对资产出卖方的利益侵害;最后从多方面提出风险防范的改进措施.相关结论应用于国有企业的并购重组具有很强的现实意义,不但能提高交易的撮合成功率,有利于盘活国有不良资产,而且能有效防范串谋带来的不利影响,防止国有资产的非正常流失.