OxTalks will soon move to the new Halo platform and will become 'Oxford Events.' There will be a need for an OxTalks freeze. This was previously planned for Friday 14th November – a new date will be shared as soon as it is available (full details will be available on the Staff Gateway).
In the meantime, the OxTalks site will remain active and events will continue to be published.
If staff have any questions about the Oxford Events launch, please contact halo@digital.ox.ac.uk
Abstract:
We study the optimal sequence of bilateral negotiations between one principal and two agents, whereby the agents have different bargaining power. The principal chooses whether to negotiate first with the stronger or the weaker agent. We show that the joint surplus is highest when the principal negotiates with the stronger agent first, independent of externalities between agents being positive or negative. The sequence chosen by the principal maximizes the joint surplus if there are negative externalities. Instead, if externalities are positive, the principal often prefers to negotiate with the weaker agent first. We also demonstrate that the sequence can be non-monotonic in the externalities and provide conditions for simultaneous timing to be optimal.
