Relative gain, in international relations

International relations

International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...

, describes the actions of states

Sovereign state

A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...

 only in respect to power balances and without regard to other factors, such as economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

. In international relations, cooperation may be necessary to balance power, but concern for relative gains will limit that cooperation due to the low quality of information about other states' behavior and interests. Relative gain is related to zero-sum game, which states that wealth cannot be expanded and the only way a state can become richer is to take wealth from another state.

Relative gains differ from absolute gain

Absolute gain (International Relations)

As a part of liberal international relations theory, absolute gain is a term used to describe how states will act in the international community. The theory says that international actors will look at the total effect of a decision on the state or organization and act accordingly...

, which is the total effect of a decision on the state or organization, regardless of gains made by others.