DECISION-MAKING BY AN AUTHORITY UNDER INFLUENCE

A characteristic set of decision problems is given when an authority h as to choose between a finite number of alternatives and is being infl uenced by a number of parties. For instance, the location of a firm wh en local authorities are competing for being the host, various types o f lobbyism, or when a manager is being influenced by deputies. This pa per argues that these problems can be analyzed as decision-making in a hierarchy using a common-agency framework. The main result is that ev en when the influential parties act simultaneously and the strategy se ts are discrete, solutions to such decision problems as pure-strategy equilibria exist.