FIXED PIE A LA MODE - INFORMATION-AVAILABILITY, INFORMATION-PROCESSING, AND THE NEGOTIATION OF SUBOPTIMAL AGREEMENTS

Negotiators often make errors in judgment that lead to suboptimal nego tiated agreements. Although researchers agree that these errors result from ''fixed pie'' expectations, there is disagreement regarding how ''fixed pie'' expectations lead to poor outcomes. One view suggests th at suboptimal agreements result when negotiators accurately process fa ulty and incomplete information (information availability errors); a s econd view holds that poorly negotiated agreements result when negotia tors inaccurately process valid or complete information (information p rocessing errors). The two experiments described in this paper confirm ed that negotiators' ''fixed pie'' expectations lead to suboptimal agr eements via both information availability and information processing e rrors. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.