The Win-Win Solution: Guaranteeing Fair Shares to Everybody

by Steven J. Brams, Alan D. Taylor

Overview

"Powerful, credible, and applicable . . . the methodology is immaculately detailed."—Fortune

Since the publication of Roger Fisher and William Ury's highly influential book, Getting to Yes, it has been widely recognized that there is a middle ground between winning and losing in negotiation. Yet, while Getting to Yes was long on motivation, it was short on technique. What you really want to know is on which issues you will win, on which you will lose, and on which you will have to compromise. To this question, Steven J. Brams and Alan D. Taylor bring a patented procedure that not only is fair but also actually guarantees that both parties walk away with as much of the "win-win" potential as possible. "One can hire a lawyer and spend years and thousands of dollars fighting [in a divorce], or one can make use of a neat new formula devised by Steven Brams and Alan Taylor."—The New Yorker

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393320817
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/17/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Steven J. Brams is professor of politics at New York University. A researcher of voting systems and fair division in the context of game theory and public choice, he is best known for being one of the independent discoverers of approval voting.

Alan D. Taylor is Marie Louise Bailey Professor of Mathematics at Union College.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
Chapter 1.	Introduction	1
	Fair-Division Stories	1
	The Setting	9
	Criteria of Satisfaction	13
	Rules and Strategies	16
Chapter 2.	Strict Alternation	19
	Taking Turns	19
	The Bottom-up Strategy	21
	Assessment	24
	Extensions to Three or More Parties	27
	Recommendations	34
Chapter 3.	Balanced Alternation	36
	The Query Step	36
	Taking Turns Taking Turns Taking Turns...	38
	Assessment	44
	Extensions to Three or More Parties	45
	Recommendations	51
Chapter 4.	Divide-and-Choose	53
	History	53
	Strategy	55
	Symmetricizing Divide-and-Choose	58
	Assessment	61
	Extensions to Three or More Parties	62
	Recommendations	66
Chapter 5.	Adjusted Winner	69
	Idea of Adjusted Winner	70
	Description	71
	Assessment	77
	Strategy	79
	Extensions to Three or More Parties	83
	Recommendations	86
Chapter 6.	Adjusted Winner: Application to Camp David	89
	Issues at Camp David	89
	Practical Considerations	98
	Fairness of the Camp David Agreement	106
Chapter 7.	Adjusted Winner: Individual Disputes	109
	Divorce	110
	Presidential Debates	118
Chapter 8.	Adjusted Winner: Business and International Disputes	124
	Mergers	125
	The Spratly Islands Dispute	133
Chapter 9.	Which Procedure is Best?	143
	Non-Adjusted Winner Procedures	143
	Adjusted Winner	144
	Which One to Pick	145
	Glossary	148
	Sources	152
	References	160
	Index	167