Decentralized task coordination

Jens Gudmundsson*, Jens Leth Hougaard, Trine Tornøe Platz

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
33 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We study decentralized task coordination. Tasks are of varying complexity and agents asymmetric: agents capable of completing high-level tasks may also take on tasks originally contracted by lower-level agents, facilitating system-wide cost reductions. We suggest a family of decentralized two-stage mechanisms, in which agents first announce preferred individual workloads and then bargain over the induced joint cost savings. The second-stage negotiations depend on the first-stage announcements as specified through the mechanism's recognition function. We characterize mechanisms that incentivize cost-effective task allocation and further single out a particular mechanism, which additionally ensures a fair distribution of the system-wide cost savings.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Journal of Operational Research
Volume304
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)851-864
Number of pages14
ISSN0377-2217
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)

Keywords

  • Bargaining
  • Consistency
  • Decentralized mechanisms
  • Game theory
  • Implementation

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