An all-win game for Mekong

Abstract

There have been many quarrels among countries of the Mekong River Basin surrounding about use of the water resources of the river in recent years. This paper is to achieve an all-win situation in use of Mekong water resources through cooperation. A game named “The Mekong Game” was designed for those Ph.D. students and resource persons to play on the PROSPER.NET's workshop. For a hypothetical case in Mekong Game, the Shapley Value Method's results were given, which could be regarded as one of equitable results in theory, and the Mekong Game's process and outcomes are introduced in this paper. Participants were divided into six groups representing six involved “countries.” The process of meeting an agreement with an all-win idea was simulated through three round-table negotiations. The results reveal: although it is harder to get theoretical optimal aftermath considering other complicated factors than those which can be calculated, the all-win situation is still possible through bargaining and negotiation processes, which should be much better than all-lose situation such as the current one.