An agent has much to lose when the difference between the utility of its current proposal and the conflict deal is high.
When both agents use the monotonic concession protocol, the Zeuthen strategy leads them to agree upon a deal in the negotiation set.
[2] The Zeuthen strategy answers three open questions that arise when using the monotonic concession protocol, namely: The answer to the first question is that any agent should start with its most preferred deal, because that deal has the highest utility for that agent.
is the minimal sufficient concession of agent A in step t. Agent A begins the negotiation by proposing and will make the minimal sufficient concession in step t + 1 if and only if Risk(A,t) ≤ Risk(B,t).
Theorem If both agents are using Zeuthen strategies, then they will agree on that is, the deal which maximizes the Nash product.
Therefore, the Zeuthen strategy guarantees a final agreement that maximizes the Nash Product.