A policy framework for trading configurable goods and services in open electronic markets

In recent years, electronic markets have gained much attention as institutions to allocate goods and services efficiently between buyers and sellers. However, calculating suitable allocations between buyers and sellers in such markets can easily become very tricky, particularly if the services and goods involved are complex and described by multiple attributes. Since such trading objects typically provide various configurations with different corresponding prices, complex pricing functions and purchase preferences have to be taken into account when computing allocations. In this paper, we present a policy description framework that draws from utility theory to capture configurable products with multiple attributes. The framework thus allows the declarative description of seller pricing policies as well as buyer preferences over these configurations. As part of the framework, we present a machine-processible representation language for the policies and a method to evaluate different trading object configurations based on these policies. In addition, we show how policies can be aggregated and how the framework can be applied in a Web service selection scenario.