Recently, I wrote about a new study on fairness in monkeys. (another-study-on-fairness ) “Fairness” seems to be a popular topic as my colleague Linda Bulmash in her One Minute Negotiation Tips published by the Los Angeles County Bar, (Volume VI, Number 2, February 2013) (Busmash) takes up the topic of “Defining Fairness in A Negotiation”. In her article, she notes that “fairness” can be defined in several different ways.   It is a “loaded” term, to say the least.

As explained in greater detail by Nancy A. Welsh in her article “Perceptions of Fairness in Negotiation”, 87 Marquette Law Review 753 (2004), “fairness” has both a distributive definition and a procedural definition. (Fairness) “Distributive fairness focuses on the criteria that lead people to feel that they have received their fair share of available benefits-i.e., that the outcome of a negotiation or other decision making process is fair.” (Id. at 754.). Not surprisingly, its definition is very subjective but can be distilled into

“….four basic, competing principles or rules- equality, need, generosity, and equity. The equality principleprovides that everyone in a group should share its benefits equally. According to the need principle, “those who need more of a benefit should get more than those who need it less.” The generosity principle decrees that one person’s outcome should not exceed the outcomes achieved by others. Finally, the equity principleties the distribution of benefits to people’s relative contribution. Those who have contributed more should receive more than those who have contributed less.” ( Id.)

Read the rest from PGP Mediation: http://www.pgpmediation.com/articles/