Negotiating efficient outcomes over multiple issues
Sabyasachi Saha, Sandip Sen · 2006
It is difficult to reach optimal outcomes in bilateral negotiations with multiple issues when the agents' preferences and priorities of the issues are not common knowledge. Self-interested agents often end up negotiating inefficient agreements in such situations. Some existing multiagent negotiation frameworks involve agents revealing their preferences to a trusted mediator. But in real-life situations, such a third party, trusted by both the agents may not be found. We design a protocol for bilateral multi-issue negotiation. This protocol guarantees envy-free and Pareto optimal agreement with minimum revelation of their preferences when both negotiators are rational and have the same ordinal preferences. This protocol also leads rational agents to envy-free and near-optimal solution in all cases.