Resources and alternatives in coalition formation: The effects on payoff,self‐serving behaviour,and bargaining length

A consistent finding in coalition research is that the payoff of coalition members is related to (a) the resources they contribute to the coalition, and to (b) the number of alternative coalitions they can form. These two factors are, however, often intertwined. A greater number of resources tends to go hand in hand with a greater number of alternatives, leaving unanswered how both factors affect coalition behaviour. This paper attempts to clarify the interplay of resources and alternatives by disentangling the two in a newly developed coalition paradigm. Results indicated that participants base their payoff allocation on both resources and alternatives, but suggest that self‐serving behaviour is more related to alternatives. Furthermore, resources and alternatives had a distinct effect on the bargaining process. It was shown that differences in alternatives led to longer bargaining. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.