THE TIMING OF ARBITRATION AND SEQUENTIAL BARGAINING

This paper links two literatures. The paper adds to results on disagre ement in perfect information bargaining games. It is found that, under certain conditions, the possibility of third-party intervention induc es delay. The paper is also the first attempt to model the arbitration process in a sequential bargaining framework. It therefore adds to th e theoretical arm of the industrial relations literature by permitting an explicit temporal setting for the 'chilling effect' and alternativ e mechanisms for the timing of arbitration.