An Experimental Evaluation of Online Dispute Resolution[Une évaluation expérimentale des modes électroniques de résolution des litiges]

The extensive development of the Internet and electronic commerce has resulted in the emergence of electronic methods of dispute resolution. The aim of this paper is to experimentally evaluate the economic performance of an innovative procedure, automated negotiation, which integrates technology as an active agent in the processing of conflicts. The parties' proposals are received and evaluated by computer software, which introduces a convergence mechanism into the negotiation process and determines the terms of an agreement according to a pre-defined rule. The results show that the parties are incentivized to strategically exploit this convergence mechanism in order to increase their gains, and that this greatly limits the effectiveness of the process. The threat of disagreement, however, associated with an increase in the degree of conflict between the parties, seems to limit this perverse effect, incentivizing the parties towards conciliation. The implications of these results allow us to discuss the potential role of public regulation and reputation mechanisms in the virtual world.