Pirates of the Mediterranean: An empirical investigation of bargaining with asymmetric information

Artikel

We investigate the effect of delay on prices in bargaining situations using a data set containing thousands of captives ransomed from Barbary pirates between 1575 and 1692. Plausibly exogenous variation in the delay in ransoming provides ev- idence that negotiating delays decreased the size of ransom payments, and that much of the effect stems from the signalling value of strategic delay, in accordance with theoretical predictions. We also structurally estimate a version of the screen- ing type bargaining model, adjusted to our context, and find that the model fits both the observed prices and acceptance probabilities well.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: Quantitative Economics ; ISSN: 1759-7331 ; Volume: 9 ; Year: 2018 ; Issue: 1 ; Pages: 217-246 ; New Haven, CT: The Econometric Society

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights ; Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law ; Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Asia including Middle East
• Subject: Bargaining ; piracy ; ransom

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Ambrus, Attila ; Chaney, Eric ; Salitskiy, Igor
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The Econometric Society
• (where): New Haven, CT
• (when): 2018

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.3982/QE655
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/195567
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET