Bargaining agenda, timing, and entry

In a unionised Cournot duopoly, the present paper extensively re-examines the subject of the bargaining scope between firms and unions. It investigates the endogenous equilibrium agenda (Right-to-Manage vs Efficient Bargaining) that can arise under three timing specification of the bargaining game both for a given duopoly and monopoly with threat of entry. A novel result is that, in sequential negotiations, Efficient Bargaining emerges in equilibrium for a range of the unions’ power larger than in simultaneous negotiations. Moreover, given the potential market deterrence effect of the Efficient Bargaining, the conventional wisdom that this agenda is socially “efficient” can be reversed.