Fiscal Politics and Regional Redistribution: Bargaining Strategies in Asymmetrical Integrative Systems

In: The journal of conflict resolution: journal of the Peace Science Society (International), Band 19, Heft 1, S. 138-160

Abstract

Whereas many studies have catalogued the factors which contribute to the furtherance of conflicts over the distribution of costs and benefits within asymmetrical integrative systems, few attempts have been made to determine the kinds of bargaining behavior which are most conducive to producing decisional outputs with positive feedback for the integrative system or to analyze the conditions under which this type of bargaining behavior can emerge. This study is addressed to precisely these two points. The analysis starts from the assumption that flexible bargaining strategies are most conducive to producing compromise within any given bargaining situation. Through the analysis pursued in this paper it is thus possible to demonstrate the very strong likelihood that the flexibility of bargaining strategies tends to vary directly with the degree of dependence and the range of alternative options open to any given country.