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The DOI matches its Crossref record; 4 of the 4 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Absolute and Relative Gains in International Relations Theory

Powell, Robert·1991·American Political Science Review

Abstract

The problem of absolute and relative gains divides neoliberal institutionalism and structural realism. The former assumes states focus primarily on their absolute gains and emphasizes the prospects for cooperation. The latter supposes states are largely concerned with relative gains and emphasizes the prospects for conflict. Existing work in international relations theory generally traces the differences between these two theories to different assumptions about states' preferences. Using a simple game-theoretic model, this essay offers a reformulation of the problem of absolute and relative gains that links changes in the states' behavior, the feasibility of cooperation, and especially the states' concern for relative versus absolute gains explicitly to changes in the constraints facing the states. Many of the differences between neoliberal institutionalism and structural realism appear as special cases of the model.

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Metadata

Authors
Powell, R.
Venue
American Political Science Review
Published
1991-12
Volume
85
Issue
4
Pages
1303-1320
ISSN
  • 0003-0554 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-5943
OpenAlex
W1980544050
Cited by
565
References
4
FWCI
70.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Absolute and Relative Gains in International Relations Theory. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.2307/1963947
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Powell, R. (1991). Absolute and Relative Gains in International Relations Theory. American Political Science Review. https://doi.org/10.2307/1963947

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