ABSTRACT
The preference function for opening a channel has a “constant” term and terms involving evaluations of different types and levels of benefits. This chapter investigates group preferences for type of structure. It demonstrates, ceteris paribus, that for the conditions of experiments, groups prefer the wheel structure to the chain and the chain to the circle. With experience, furthermore, groups prefer the wheel slightly over the all-channel. The greater the cost of a channel, ceteris paribus, the less likely it is used. The channel-renting curve represents the amounts of B1, or money, subjects are willing to pay to rent channels in order to not be in a given structure. If a group selects an all-channel structure, it does not have to make specific decisions about how to organize; it preserves the options for organizing any way it chooses. The individual channel-renting decisions in the previous experiments do not necessarily reflect unanimity about structure.
