The Win-Win Solution: Guaranteeing Fair Shares to Everybody (Norton Paperback)
"Our concern in this book is with disputes--from divorce to business to international--in which everybody can win." Having thus precisely stated their objective, Brams (a professor of politics at New York University) and Taylor (a professor of mathematics at Union College) lay out a series of procedures whereby disputants can carve up the assets or issues and walk away convinced that the outcome is fair. Two of the procedures--strict alternation in choosing and divide-and-choose--have a long track record; Brams and Taylor offer them with some new modifications. The third procedure, adjusted winner, is their own. "Under this procedure, the two parties begin by independently (that is, secretly) distributing a total of 100 points across all the items to be divided, depending on the relative value they attach to them." The one who put the highest value on a particular item gets it temporarily.  Probably one party will win items adding up to more points than the items won by the other party. Then they start transferring items between themselves, in a certain order, until the point totals are equalized--that is the adjustment. The authors describe how their program would work for various kinds of disputes, ranging from the recent divorce of Gary and Lorna Wendt all the way back to King Solomon's division of a disputed baby. They think their procedures "can help parties reduce the frustration, anger, and occasional violence that often accompany escalating demands and endless haggling."--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.