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Fairness and efficiency in strategy-proof object allocation mechanisms

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  • Nesterov, Alexander S.

Abstract

I consider the problem of allocating N indivisible objects among N agents according to their preferences when transfers are absent and an outside option may exist. I study the tradeoff between fairness and efficiency in the class of strategy-proof mechanisms. The main finding is that for strategy-proof mechanisms the following efficiency and fairness criteria are mutually incompatible: (1) ex-post efficiency and envy-freeness, (2) ordinal efficiency and weak envy-freeness, and (3) ordinal efficiency and equal division lower bound. Result 1 is the first impossibility result for this setting that uses ex-post efficiency; results 2 and 3 are more practical than similar results in the literature. In addition, for N=3, I give two characterizations of the celebrated random serial dictatorship mechanism: it is the unique strategy-proof, ex-post efficient mechanism that (4) provides agents that have the same ordinal preferences with assignments not dominated by each other (weak envy-freeness among equals), or (5) provides agents that have the same cardinal preferences with assignments of equal expected utility (symmetry). These results strengthen the characterization by Bogomolnaia and Moulin (2001); result 5 implies the impossibility result by Zhou (1990).

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  • Nesterov, Alexander S., 2017. "Fairness and efficiency in strategy-proof object allocation mechanisms," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 145-168.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:170:y:2017:i:c:p:145-168
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2017.05.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Ramezanian, Rasoul & Feizi, Mehdi, 2021. "Stepwise ordinal efficiency for the random assignment problem," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 60-65.
    2. Youngsub Chun & Kiyong Yun, 2020. "Upper-contour strategy-proofness in the probabilistic assignment problem," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 54(4), pages 667-687, April.
    3. Alva, Samson & Manjunath, Vikram, 2020. "The impossibility of strategy-proof, Pareto efficient, and individually rational rules for fractional matching," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 15-29.
    4. Freeman, Rupert & Pritchard, Geoffrey & Wilson, Mark, 2021. "Order Symmetry: A New Fairness Criterion for Assignment Mechanisms," SocArXiv xt37c, Center for Open Science.
    5. Basteck, Christian & Ehlers, Lars H., 2022. "Strategy-proof and envy-free random assignment," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Behavior SP II 2022-208, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    6. Georgios Gerasimou, 2019. "Simple Preference Intensity Comparisons," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 201905, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews, revised 27 Apr 2020.
    7. Shende, Priyanka & Purohit, Manish, 2023. "Strategy-proof and envy-free mechanisms for house allocation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    8. Di Feng & Jacob Coreno, 2024. "Justified Fairness in House Allocation Problems: two Characterizations of Strategy-proof Mechanisms," Papers 2407.14101, arXiv.org.
    9. Priyanka Shende & Manish Purohit, 2020. "Strategy-proof and Envy-free Mechanisms for House Allocation," Papers 2010.16384, arXiv.org.
    10. Brandt, Felix & Saile, Christian & Stricker, Christian, 2022. "Strategyproof social choice when preferences and outcomes may contain ties," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    11. Zhang, Jun, 2019. "Efficient and fair assignment mechanisms are strongly group manipulable," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 167-177.
    12. Feizi, Mehdi & Ramezanian, Rasoul, 2023. "A new impossibility result for random assignments," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    13. Rasoul Ramezanian & Mehdi Feizi, 2021. "Ex-post favoring ranks: a fairness notion for the random assignment problem," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 25(3), pages 157-176, September.
    14. Aziz, Haris & Brandl, Florian & Brandt, Felix & Brill, Markus, 2018. "On the tradeoff between efficiency and strategyproofness," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 1-18.
    15. Ramezanian, Rasoul & Feizi, Mehdi, 2022. "Robust ex-post Pareto efficiency and fairness in random assignments: Two impossibility results," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 356-367.
    16. Basteck, Christian & Ehlers, Lars, 2023. "Strategy-proof and envy-free random assignment," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    17. Demeulemeester, Tom & Goossens, Dries & Hermans, Ben & Leus, Roel, 2023. "A pessimist’s approach to one-sided matching," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 305(3), pages 1087-1099.
    18. Di Feng, 2023. "Efficiency in Multiple-Type Housing Markets," Papers 2308.14989, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2025.
    19. Basteck, Christian, 2018. "Fair solutions to the random assignment problem," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 163-172.
    20. Kondratev, Aleksei Y. & Nesterov, Alexander S., 2022. "Minimal envy and popular matchings," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 296(3), pages 776-787.
    21. Zhang, Jun, 2023. "Strategy-proof allocation with outside option," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 50-67.
    22. Zhang, Jun, 2020. "When are efficient and fair assignment mechanisms group strategy-proof?," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 251-266.
    23. Jun Zhang, 2023. "On wastefulness of random assignments in discrete allocation problems," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 76(1), pages 289-310, July.
    24. Jonathan Scarlett & Nicholas Teh & Yair Zick, 2023. "For One and All: Individual and Group Fairness in the Allocation of Indivisible Goods," Papers 2302.06958, arXiv.org.
    25. Steven Kivinen, 2024. "Weak Equity," Graz Economics Papers 2024-04, University of Graz, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Probabilistic assignment; Random serial dictatorship; Strategy-proofness; Ex-post efficiency; Weak envy-freeness; Equal division lower bound;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C78 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation

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