Equal split in the informal market for group train travel

Israel Waichman (), Artem Korzhenevych () and Till Requate ()

No 1638, Kiel Working Papers from Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel)

Abstract: In this paper we make use of a unique dataset collected in the central train station of Kiel, Germany. A group ticket is used by individual proposers who search for co-travelers to share the ride with shortly before the train departure. The bargaining behavior resembles the Ultimatum game to the extent that proposers request a fixed price for a shared ride and potential co-travelers usually accept or reject the deal. We observe that the prevailing price corresponds to the equal split of the ticket cost between the maximum possible number of co-travelers. This result is remarkable because the positions of the bargaining parties are hardly symmetric and the formation of the full group is not guaranteed. Using a simple agent-based model we are able to identify some sufficient conditions leading to the observed distribution of prices. Finally, we observed that the probability to accept an unusually high offer is decreasing with the price and increasing when the offer is made right before the train departure.

Keywords: Natural field experiment; bargaining; focal point; equal split; agent-based model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C78 C93 D74 D83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Related works:
Journal Article: Equal split in the informal market for group train travel (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1638

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