Worst-case optimal redistribution of VCG payments in multi-unit auctions
成果类型：
Article; Proceedings Paper
署名作者：
Guo, Mingyu; Conitzer, Vincent
署名单位：
Duke University
刊物名称：
GAMES AND ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR
ISSN/ISSBN：
0899-8256
DOI：
10.1016/j.geb.2008.06.007
发表日期：
2009
页码：
69-98
关键词：
摘要：
For allocation problems with one or more items, the well-known Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) mechanism (aka Clarke mechanism, Generalized Vickrey Auction) is efficient, strategy-proof, individually rational, and does not incur a deficit. However, it is not (strongly) budget balanced: generally, the agents' payments Will SLIM to more than 0. We study mechanisms that redistribute some of the VCG payments back to the agents, while maintaining the desirable properties of the VCG mechanism. Our objective is to come as close to budget balance as possible in the worst case. For auctions With multiple indistinguishable units in which marginal values are nonincreasing, we derive it mechanism that is optimal in this sense. We also derive an optimal mechanism for the case where we drop the non-deficit requirement. Finally, we show that if marginal values are not required to be nonincreasing, then the original VCG mechanism is worst-case optimal. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.