Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/110094 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8866
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
International climate negotiations have been troubled by mutual mistrust. At the same time, a hope seems to prevail that once enough countries moved forward, others would follow suit. If the abatement game faced by climate negotiators is a Prisoners' Dilemma, and countries are narrowly self-interested, such a hope seems unfounded. However, if countries display reciprocity – a preference to repay meanness by meanness and kindness by kindness – their willingness to abate will be conditional on others' abatement. I show that a full or majority coalition can be stable. This requires, however, that a majority of countries have relatively strong reciprocity preferences. No coalition participation is always stable. In addition, a stable minority coalition may exist; if so, it is weakly larger than the maximum stable coalition with standard preferences, but is characterized by mutually negative sentiments.
Subjects: 
international environmental agreements
reciprocity
coalitions
JEL: 
F53
H87
Q54
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
816.33 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.