Bargaining Foundations for the Outside Option Principle.

We study a bargaining game in which a seller can trade with one of two buyers, who have values h and l (⁠ h > l ⁠). The outside option principle (OOP) predicts that, as players become patient, the seller trades with the high-value buyer with probability converging to 1 at a price converging to max (...

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Publicado en:Review of Economic Studies Vol. 93; no. 2; pp. 725 - 763
Autores principales: Abreu, Dilip, Manea, Mihai
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Mar2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Mar2026
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      pub: Oxford University Press / USA
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        10.1093/restud/rdaf053
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        atl: Bargaining Foundations for the Outside Option Principle.
      aug:
        au:
          Abreu, Dilip
          Manea, Mihai
        affil:
          New York University, USA
          Stony Brook University, USA
      su:
        Negotiation
        Equilibrium
        Matching theory
      sug:
        subj:
          Negotiation
          Equilibrium
          Matching theory
      keyword:
        Bargaining
        Bargaining protocol
        copyrightHolder:Review of Economic Studies Ltd
        copyrightYear:2026
        Delay
        Efficiency
        inLanguage:en
        Markov perfect equilibrium
        Outside option principle
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        Refinements
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaf053
        Bargaining
        Bargaining protocol
        copyrightHolder:Review of Economic Studies Ltd
        copyrightYear:2026
        Delay
        Efficiency
        inLanguage:en
        Markov perfect equilibrium
        Outside option principle
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        Refinements
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaf053
      ab: We study a bargaining game in which a seller can trade with one of two buyers, who have values h and l (⁠ h > l ⁠). The outside option principle (OOP) predicts that, as players become patient, the seller trades with the high-value buyer with probability converging to 1 at a price converging to max (h / 2 , l) ⁠. While this prediction is supported by the Markov perfect equilibrium (MPE), a wide range of trading outcomes may emerge in subgame perfect equilibria (SPEs): in the patient limit, the seller can obtain any price in the interval [ h / 2 , h ] (and no other); moreover, allocative inefficiency and costly delay are possible. We propose equilibrium refinements less restrictive than Markov behavior that guarantee trading outcomes consistent with the OOP. One refinement requires that a buyer's relative probability of trade does not increase dramatically following a failed negotiation with that buyer. Another refinement posits that the seller does not approach a buyer hoping that negotiations fail. SPEs satisfying both refinements conform with the OOP (but need not be MPEs). Our benchmark model features strategic matching by the seller. We provide a parallel analysis for the random matching protocol. Under random matching, prices in SPEs may also rise above and fall below l , but have a narrower range. A refinement particular to this protocol that restores the OOP requires that a random mismatch should not impact the seller excessively.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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