Author: David A. Kravitz

Title: Effects of resources and alternatives on coalition formation.

Source: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 87-98. 1981.

Abstract:
Previous research has indicated that coalition formation is influenced by the players' resources and alternatives (game structure). Unfortunately, on almost all occasions when both resources and game structure have been varied, they have been confounded. In the present study, four different four-person simple games were used, based on the same distribution of resources. These games were played both with and without resources being assigned. Thus, resource assignment and game structure were not confounded. Coalition frequencies and reward divisions were minimally influenced by assigned resources. Coalition frequency was inversely related to coalition size. Players' outcomes were inversely related to the size of the winning coalition and directly related to the number of their alternative small coalitions. Players' mean payoffs over all trials were related to the number and mean size of their minimal winning coalitions, relative to the other players. Implications for coalition theories are discussed.

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