Reaching envy-free states in distributed negotiation settings

Abstract

Mechanisms for dividing a set of goods amongst a
\nnumber of autonomous agents need to balance ef-
\nficiency and fairness requirements. A common in-
\nterpretation of fairness is envy-freeness, while ef-
\nficiency is usually understood as yielding maximal
\noverall utility. We show how to set up a distributed
\nnegotiation framework that will allow a group of
\nagents to reach an allocation of goods that is both
\nefficient and envy-free.