1,720,964 research outputs found

    A randomised method for the shapely value for the voting game.

    No full text
    The Shapley value is one of the key solution concepts for coalition games. Its main advantage is that it provides a unique and fair solution, but its main problem is that, for many coalition games, the Shapley value cannot be determined in polynomial time. In particular, the problem of finding this value for the voting game is known to be #P-complete in the general case. However, in this paper, we show that there are some specific voting games for which the problem is computationally tractable. For other general voting games, we overcome the problem of computational complexity by presenting a new randomized method for determining the approximate Shapley value. The time complexity of this method is linear in the number of players. We also show, through empirical studies, that the percentage error for the proposed method is always less than 20% and, in most cases, less than 5%

    Optimal Agendas for Sequential Auctions for Common and Private Value Objects

    No full text
    This paper analyzes sequential auctions for objects that have both common and private values. Existing work has studied sequential auctions for objects that are either exclusively common or private value. However, in many cases, an object has both features. Now, in such cases, the common value (which is the same for all bidders) depends on each bidder’s valuation of the object. But, generally speaking, a bidder cannot know the true common value, since it does not know how much the other bidders value it. On the other hand, a bidder’s private value is independent of the others’ private values. Given this, our objective is to study sequential auctions for heterogeneous objects that have both common and private values by treating each bidder’s information about the common value as uncertain. In so doing, we first determine equilibrium bidding strategies for each auction in a sequence. Then, since the total revenue from all the auctions in a sequence depends on the auction agenda (i.e., the order in which the objects are auctioned) we determine the optimal agenda (i.e., the one that maximizes total expected revenue across all the auctions in a sequence). Finally, we show that, for a given agenda, the total revenue is the same for first-price, second-price, and English auction rules

    Multi-issue negotiation with deadlines.

    Get PDF
    This paper studies bilateral multi-issue negotiation between self-interested autonomous agents. Now, there are a number of different procedures that can be used for this process; the three main ones being the package deal procedure in which all the issues are bundled and discussed together, the simultaneous procedure in which the issues are discussed simultaneously but independently of each other, and the sequential procedure in which the issues are discussed one after another. Since each of them yields a different outcome, a key problem is to decide which one to use in which circumstances. Specifically, we consider this question for a model in which the agents have time constraints (in the form of both deadlines and discount factors) and information uncertainty (in that the agents do not know the opponent's utility function). For this model, we consider issues that are both independent and those that are interdependent and determine equilibria for each case for each procedure. In doing so, we show that the package deal is in fact the optimal procedure for each party. We then go on to show that, although the package deal may be computationally more complex than the other two procedures, it generates Pareto optimal outcomes (unlike the other two), it has similar earliest and latest possible times of agreement to the simultaneous procedure (which is better than the sequential procedure), and that it (like the other two procedures) generates a unique outcome only under certain conditions (which we define)

    Approximate and online multi-issue negotiation.

    Get PDF
    This paper analyzes bilateral multi-issue negotiation between self interested autonomous agents. The agents have time constraints in the form of both deadlines and discount factors. There are m > 1 issues for negotiation where each issue is viewed as a pie of size one. The issues are “indivisible” (i.e., individual issues cannot be split between the parties; each issue must be allocated in its entirety to either agent). Here different agents value different issues differently. Thus, the problem is for the agents to decide how to allocate the issues between themselves so as to maximize their individual utilities. For such negotiations, we first obtain the equilibrium strategies for the case where the issues for negotiation are known a priori to the parties. Then, we analyse their time complexity and show that finding the equilibrium offers is an NP-hard problem, even in a complete information setting. In order to overcome this computational complexity, we then present negotiation strategies that are approximately optimal but computationally efficient, and show that they form an equilibrium. We also analyze the relative error (i.e., the difference between the true optimum and the approximate). The time complexity of the approximate equilibrium strategies is O(nm=2) where n is the negotiation deadline and the relative error. Finally, we extend the analysis to online negotiation where different issues become available at different time points and the agents are uncertain about their valuations for these issues. Specifically, we show that an approximate equilibrium exists for online negotiation and show that the expected difference between the optimum and the approximate is O(pm) . These approximate strategies also have polynomial time complexity

    On efficient procedures for multi-issue negotiation

    No full text
    This paper studies bilateral, multi-issue negotiation between self-interested agents with deadlines. There are a number of procedures for negotiating the issues and each of these gives a different outcome. Thus, a key problem is to decide which one to use. Given this, we study the three main alternatives: the package deal, the simultaneous procedure, and the sequential procedure. First, we determine equilibria for the case where each agent is uncertain about its opponent’s deadline. We then compare the outcomes for these procedures and determine the one that is optimal (in this case, the package deal is optimal for each party). We then compare the procedures in terms of their time complexity, the uniqueness and Pareto optimality of their solutions, and their time of agreement

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

    Get PDF
    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

    Get PDF
    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

    Get PDF
    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

    Get PDF
    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods
    corecore