Modelling agent interdependency in group decision making

This paper establishes the rationale for a method that recognises the interdependency of choices made by two or more agents, known as interactive agency choice experiments (IACEs), and the behavioural implications of maintaining the assumption of agency exogeneity in discrete choice models. We model the interdependent decision making process using the IACE method to illustrate how to capture information on preferences for members of a decision making group. An empirical study of employee and employer choices of distributive work practices highlights the role that other agents play in influencing the decisions of individual agents. The IACE reveals barriers to agency choice that can be better understood and minimised by each agent having more information on the other agent's preferences and willingness to cooperate that is lacking in the agent-independence modelling framework.