Using Game Theory - Part 4(a)
Using Game Theory to Understand and Resolve Conflict - Part 4(a)
There are a variety of approaches to understanding, managing, and resolving conflict and litigation. One of the more intriguing ones involves using concepts derived from the theory of games. This approach is described in detail in a series of videos recently posted by Fair Outcomes, Inc. As was stated by one of the company’s founders, James F. Ring, in discussing these videos with ADR Times: “Conflict is a very grim and dark business. These videos – compiled from materials presented at various academic conferences – approach the subject in a relatively straightforward and simple way, without assuming any prior knowledge of game theory on the part of the viewer. But the approach is rigorous and highly cold-blooded. It’s radically different from, and perhaps even antithetical to, some of the more conventional approaches that one finds in the ADR field.”
Part 4(a) - Traditional Moves in Fair Division Cases
This is Part 4(a) in a series of videos on understanding, managing, and resolving conflict and litigation. Part 4(a) explores the dynamic in disputes between joint owners of property, and also considers the strategic move embodied in traditional buy-sell arrangements, as well as the limitations of those arrangements. This video is part of a six-part series that appears on the YouTube channel of Fair Outcomes, Inc., which can be accessed via the following link: http://www.youtube.com/user/fairoutcomes.
Fair Outcomes, Inc. is a Boston-based company that was founded by a small group of practicing lawyers, game theorists, and computer scientists for the purpose of providing parties involved in disputes or difficult negotiations with access to game theoretic bargaining mechanisms.
This six-part series of videos consists of the following:
Part 1 - Strategic Moves – Introductory Concepts
Part 2 - The Logic of Conflict and Origin of Legal Systems
Part 3 - Law and the Theory of Games
Part 4(a) - Traditional Moves in Fair Division Cases
Part 4(b) - Strategic Moves in Fair Division Cases
Part 5 - When and Why Cases Settle
Part 6 - Strategic Moves in Disputes Over Money
The video appearing on this page appears here by permission from Fair Outcomes, Inc., which has reserved all rights to this video subject to the YouTube Terms of Service.
Reader Comments (1)
Viewers of this video might be interested in reviewing a new paper published on the Social Science Research Network, which describes an experimental study conducted in Germany with respect to the Fair Division/Adjusted Winner System that is discussed in Part 4 of this series (primarily in Part 4(b)). The paper reports that the procedure “eminently improves” upon traditional negotiation methods: “The Adjusted Winner procedure improved the participants’ solutions substantially.” The authors conclude that “… new negotiations training concepts—grasping mathematical structuring and modeling of negotiation situations and, thus, going beyond the widely accepted Harvard method—need to be developed and evaluated.” A copy of the full paper can be downloaded at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1805025