A Generic Approach to Coalition Formation

We propose an abstract approach to coalition formation that focuses on simple merge and split rules transforming partitions of a group of players. We identify conditions under which every iteration of these rules yields a unique partition. The main conceptual tool is a specific notion of a stable partition. The results are parametrized by a preference relation between partitions of a group of players and naturally apply to coalitional TU-games, hedonic games and exchange economy games.

[1]  Francis Bloch,et al.  Noncooperative formation of coalitions in hedonic games , 2011, Int. J. Game Theory.

[2]  G. Demange,et al.  Group Formation in Economics , 2005 .

[3]  Gabrielle Demange,et al.  On Group Stability in Hierarchies and Networks , 2004, Journal of Political Economy.

[4]  Enno Ohlebusch,et al.  Term Rewriting Systems , 2002 .

[5]  Joseph Greenberg,et al.  Chapter 37 Coalition structures , 1994 .

[6]  Tayfun Sönmez,et al.  Core in a simple coalition formation game , 2001, Soc. Choice Welf..

[7]  Matthew O. Jackson,et al.  The Stability of Hedonic Coalition Structures , 2002, Games Econ. Behav..

[8]  R. J. Aumann,et al.  Cooperative games with coalition structures , 1974 .

[9]  Krzysztof R. Apt,et al.  Stable partitions in coalitional games , 2006, ArXiv.

[10]  An Overview of Coalition and Network Formation Models for Economic Applications , 2007 .

[11]  Sequential formation of coalitions through bilateral agreements , 2002 .

[12]  M. Dufwenberg.  Game theory. , 2011, Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science.

[13]  David Pérez-Castrillo,et al.  Sequential Formation of Coalitions Through Bilateral Agreements in a Cournot Setting , 2006, Int. J. Game Theory.

[14]  Matthew O. Jackson,et al.  Definitions of equilibrium in network formation games , 2006, Int. J. Game Theory.

[15]  Debraj Ray,et al.  Equilibrium Binding Agreements , 1997 .

[16]  Sang-Seung Yi.  Stable Coalition Structures with Externalities , 1997 .

[17]  William S. Zwicker,et al.  Coalition formation games with separable preferences , 2003, Math. Soc. Sci..

[18]  Craig Boutilier,et al.  Bayesian reinforcement learning for coalition formation under uncertainty , 2004, Proceedings of the Third International Joint Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems, 2004. AAMAS 2004..

[19]  H. Moulin.  Axioms of Cooperative Decision Making , 1988 .

[20]  Krzysztof R. Apt,et al.  Uniform Proofs of Order Independence for Various Strategy Elimination Procedures , 2004, ArXiv.