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Finite Horizon Holdup and How to Cross the River

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  • Martin, Simon
  • Schlag, Karl

Abstract

When should one pay for delivery of a good if there are no institutions? We suggest to break up the transaction into many small rounds of investment and payment. We show that the efficient investment can be implemented in an epsilon-subgame perfect equilibrium for any given epsilon if the invest technology is concave and there are sufficiently many rounds of investment. This shows that the holdup problem that emerges from backwards induction in a finite horizon is not robust.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin, Simon & Schlag, Karl, 2017. "Finite Horizon Holdup and How to Cross the River," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168136, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc17:168136
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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