The impact of group identity on coalition formation

Denise Laroze, David Hugh-Jones and Arndt Leininger
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Denise Laroze: University of Essex
Arndt Leininger: Hertie School of Governance

No 2015-03, University of East Anglia School of Economics Working Paper Series from School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.

Abstract: Bargaining and coalition building is a central part of modern politics. Typically, game-theoretic models cannot predict a unique equilibrium. One possibility is that coalitions are formed on the basis of social identity loyalty to a gender, ethnic or political in-group. We test the effect of gender, race and ideological distance on coalition formation in a majority-rule bargaining experiment. Despite the absence of any incentives to do so, we find that ideological distance significantly affects offers made to potential coalition partners. As a result, coalitions tend to be ideologically coherent, even though there is no ideological policy output. We conclude that social identity considerations can determine equilibria in coalition formation.

Keywords: coalition formation; laboratory experiments; Baron and Ferejon model; legislative bargaining; social identity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-09-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-exp, nep-gth, nep-net and nep-pol
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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