Kantian equilibria of a class of nash bargaining games

Date
2021-08
Instructor
Source Title
Print ISSN
Electronic ISSN
Publisher
Bilkent University
Volume
Issue
Pages
Language
English
Type
Thesis
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract

This thesis studies Kantian equilibria (Roemer, 2010) of an n-player bargaining game, which is a modified version of the well-known divide-the-dollar game. It starts with introducing the fundamental concepts of Kantian morality and how Kantian moral theory is captured in economic theory. Then, we first show that the Kantian equilibrium exists under fairly minimal assumptions. Second, if the bankruptcy rule used satisfies equal treatment of equals, and is almost nowhere proportional, then only equal division can prevail in any Kantian equilibrium. On the other hand, we show that an ‘anything goes’ type result emerges only under the proportional rule. Furthermore, using hybrid bankruptcy rules that we construct in a novel fashion, we can characterize the whole equilibrium set. Lastly, we analyse what happens to the equilibrium behavior and the axiomatic properties of the bankruptcy rules under the additive definition of Kantian equilibrium. Our results highlight the interactions between institutions (axiomatic properties of division rules) and agents’ equilibrium behavior.

Course
Other identifiers
Book Title
Keywords
Axiomatic approach, Bankruptcy games, Kantian equilibrium, Divide-the-dollar game, Equal division, Kantian morality, Bargaining, Equal division
Citation
Published Version (Please cite this version)