Do buyer‐size discounts depend on the curvature of the surplus function? Experimental tests of bargaining models
实验检验了讨价还价理论中买方规模折扣是否依赖于剩余函数的非线性，发现只有边际成本递增（剩余函数凹）时才会出现数量折扣，并估计了行为与理论偏差的来源。
A number of recent theoretical papers have shown that, for buyer‐size discounts to emerge in a bargaining model, the total surplus function over which parties bargain must have certain nonlinearities. We test the theory in an experimental setting in which a seller bargains with a number of buyers of different sizes. Nonlinearities in the surplus function are generated by varying the shape of the seller's cost function. Consistent with the theory, we find that quantity discounts emerge only in the case of increasing marginal cost, corresponding to a concave surplus function. We provide additional structural estimates to help identify the source of remaining discrepancies between experimental behavior and theoretical predictions (whether due to preferences for fairness or other factors such as computation errors).