Dissertation Defense of Imran Khan
Dissertation Defense of
Imran Khan
Why does multilateral cooperation vary across issue areas?
23rd February 2024 (Friday)
10:00 AM EST
https://odu.zoom.us/j/7652350252
ABSTRACT
Why does multilateral cooperation sometimes fail to emerge, even in contexts where multilateral cooperation would be more beneficial for all parties than bilateral cooperation? To explore this puzzle, a generalization of the stag-hunt game is developed. The key finding from the analysis of this “stag-elephant” game is that because pursuing multilateral cooperation is a riskier strategy due to the need for a larger number of players to cooperate to achieve it, multilateral cooperation can fail to emerge even when the payoffs from multilateral cooperation substantially exceed those of bilateral cooperation. To instantiate the central argument, I have picked the issue areas of international trade and FDI. The dominant pattern of cooperation in international trade is “multilateralism” while the dominant pattern of cooperation in FDI is “bilateralism”. The dissertation specifically explores how and why different patterns of cooperation emerge in international trade and FDI. The central argument of the research is that cooperation can evolve to a particular pattern of cooperation through a combination of the effects of initial distribution of strategies (initial conditions) and the net payoff ratios.
Committee
Dr. Jesse Richman, Chairperson
Dr. David Earnest
Dr. Erika Frydenlund
Posted By: Ivy Robinson
Date: Mon Feb 19 07:47:21 EST 2024