The Surplus Partition in a Simultaneous Offers Bargaining Game

This article reports on a study concerned with a two-person, simultaneous-demand bargaining game. The focus of analysis is on the partition of the surplus that emerges from the higher buyer´s offer and the lower seller´s offer when the demands are compatible(the buyer´s offer is higher than the seller´s). As is well-known, in this case the standard half-half splitting rule is the main mechanism, that seems to be fair to the both parties. Moreover, optimality is the best arbitration to the surplus splitting. It demands that the mechanism maximizes the product of the players´ utilities. In contrast with the Nash bargaining solution, this study shows that the standard half-half splitting is an available distribution mechanism of the surplus if the online negotiation procedures and regulations can be settled elaborately.