Bargaining with Two-Person-Groups—On the Insignificance of the Patient Partner

Oliver Kirchkamp and Ulrike Vollstädt

Although many real bargaining situations involve more than two people, much of the theoretical and experimental research concentrates on the two player situation. We study the simplest possible extension: four people (two two-person groups) of different patience bargain with each other. Theoretically, only the more patient member of each group should be relevant for the outcome. The less patient members would agree to any outcome and are, hence, irrelevant. We find, however, that the impact of the patient member can be quite small.

JEL-Classification: C78, D74

Keywords: bargaining experiment, heterogeneous group members

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• The paper is available as Jena Economic Research Paper 2012-43.
• Here is the most recent version of the paper as of 23. February 2013.
• The paper is also availabe as CESifo Working Paper No. 4150.
(c)Oliver Kirchkamp