Delegated bargaining and renegotiation

Abstract

We examine the commitment effect of delegated bargaining when the delegation contract is renegotiable. We consider a seller who can either bargain face-to-face with a prospective buyer or delegate bargaining to an intermediary. The intermediary is able to interrupt negotiating with the buyer to renegotiate the delegation contract. We show that the time cost of renegotiation prevents a full elimination of the commitment effect of delegation. Indeed, there are always gains from delegation when the players are sufficiently patient. An extension to a search market environment shows that the gains from delegation are negatively related to the efficiency of search.