Abstract
This paper describes the main approaches for the construction of models of coalition formation among rational cooperative agents. The taxonomy of papers in this rapidly developing interdisciplinary research field is presented. Different approaches are compared based on the authors’ experience, from the point of view of their applicability to real world tasks. Special attention is paid to models of cooperative game theory.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Vittikh, V.A., Complex System Evolution Management, Izv. Samar. Nauchn. Tsentra Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2000, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 54–65.
Zhukovskii, V.I., Kooperativnye igry pri neopredelennosti i ikh prilozheniya (Cooperative Games under Uncertainty and Their Applications), Moscow: Editorial URSS, 1999.
Ivanov, D.A., Development of the Fundamental Interdisciplinary Approach to the Modeling of Logistic and Manufacturing Networks on the DIMA Basis, Logistika Segodnya, 2008, no. 6, pp. 346–353.
Owen, G., Game Theory Academic Press, UK, 1995; Moscow: Mir, 1971.
Petrosyan, L.A., Zenkevich, N.A., and Semina, E.A., Teoriya igr (Game Theory), Moscow: Vysshaya Shkola, 1998.
L. Sheremetov. A Model of Fuzzy Coalition Games in Problems of Configuring Open Supply Networks. J. of Computer and Systems Sciences Int. 48(5): 765–778, 2009.
Aumann, R.J. and Maschler, M., The Bargaining Set for Cooperative Games, in Advances in Game Theory. Ser.: Annals of Mathematics Studies Dresher, M., Shapley, L.S., and Tucker, A.W., Eds., Princeton: University Press, 1964, vol. 52.
Axelrod, R., The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent Based Models of Competition and Collaboration Princeton: University Press, 1997.
Butrnariu, D. and Klement, E.P., Nor-Based Measures and Games with Fuzzy Coalitions Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1993.
Carabelea, C., Boissier, O., and Castelfranchi, C., Using Social Power to Enable Agents to Reason about Being Part of a Group, Proc. 5th Int. Workshop on Eng. Soc. in the Agent World (ESAW-04) 2004, pp. 166–177.
Chalkiadakis, G., Markakisy, E., and Boutilier, C., Coalition Formation under Uncertainty: Bargaining Equilibria and the Bayesian Core Stability Concept, Proc. 6th Int. Joint Conf. on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS-07) Honolulu, USA, 2007, pp. 400–407.
Chalkiadakis, G., Elkind, E., Markakis, E., and Jennings, N.R., Overlapping Coalition Formation, Proc. Workshop on Internet and Network Economics (WINE-08) Papadimitriou, C. and Zhang, S., Eds., 2008; Lect. Notes Comput. Sci., 2008, vol. 5385, pp. 307–321.
Collins, J., Arunachalam, R., Sadeh, N., et al., The Supply Chain Management Game for the 2007 Trading Agent Competition CNU-SRI-07-100, 2006.
Conte, R. and Sichman, J.S., DEPNET: How to Benefit from Social Dependence, J. Math. Sociol., 1995, vol. 20, nos. 2–3, pp. 161–177.
Contreras, J., Klusch, M., and Yen, J., Multiagent Coalition Formation in Power Transmission Planning: a Bilateral Shapley Value Approach, Proc. 4th Int. Conf. on Artificial Intelligence Planning Systems, Manlo Pack, 1998, pp. 19–26.
Davis, M. and Machler, M., The Kernel of a Cooperative Game, Naval Res. Logistics Quarterly, 1965, vol. 12, pp. 223–259.
Durfee, E.H., Lesser, V.R., and Corkill, D.D., Trends in Cooperative Distributed Problem Solving, IEEE Trans. Knowledge Data Eng., 1995, vol. 1, pp. 63–83.
Fisher, R. and Ury, W., Getting to Yes Negotiation Agreement without Giving in New York, Penguin Books, 1983.
Fletcher, M., Garcia-Herreros, E., Christensen, J.H., et al., An Open Architecture for Holonic Cooperation and Autonomy, Proc. 11th Int. Workshop on Database and Expert System Applications (DEXA-00), 2000, pp. 224–230.
Gasser, L., Social Conceptions of Knowledge and Action: DAI Foundations and Open System Semantics, Artif. Intell., 1991, vol. 47, nos. 1–3, pp. 107–138.
Genesereth, M., Ginsberg, M., and Rosenchein, J., Cooperation without Communication, Proc. Annual Conf. of Assoc. on Artificial Intelligence, Philadelphia, 1986.
Gillies, D.B., Some Theorems on n-Person Games. Ph. D. thesis, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953.
Hosam, H. and Khaldoun, Z., Planning Coalition Formation under Uncertainty: Auction Approach, Proc. 2nd Conf. on Inform. Comm. Technol. (ICTTA-06), 2006, vol. 2, pp. 3013–3017.
Jennings, N.R., Faratin, P., Lomuscio, et al., Automated Negotiation: Prospects, Methods and Challenges, Int. J. Group Decision Negotiation, 2001, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 199–215.
Jiang, J.-G., Su, Z.-P., Qi, M.-B., and Zhang, G.-F., Multi-Task Coalition Parallel Formation Strategy Based on Reinforcement Learning, Acta Automatica Sinica, 2008, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 349–352.
Kahan, J.P. and Rapoport, A., Theories of Coalition Formation London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1984.
Klusch, M. and Gerber, A., A Dynamic Coalition Formation Scheme for Rational Agents, in IEEE Intelligent Systems 2002, pp. 42–47.
Klusch, M. and Shehory, O., Coalition Formation among Rational Information Agents, Proc. Eur. Workshop on Modeling Autonomous Agents in a Multi-Agent World (MAAMAW 96), 1996; Lect. Notes Artif. Intell., 1996, vol. 1038, pp. 204–217.
Klusch, M. and Shehory, O., A Polynomial Kernel-Oriented Coalition Formation Algorithm for Rational Information Agents, Proc. Int. Conf. on Multiagent Systems (AAAI-96), 1996, pp. 157–164.
Kota, R., Gibbins, N., and Jennings, N.R., Self-Organising Agent Organizations, Proc. 8th Int. Conf. on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS-09), Budapest: Hungary, 2009.
Kraus, S., Negotiation and Cooperation in Multi-Agent Environments, Artif. Intell., 1997, vol. 94, nos. 1–2, pp. 79–98.
Kraus, S., Shehory, O., and Taase, G., Coalition Formation with Uncertain Heterogeneous Information, Proc. Int. Conf. on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS-03), New York, 2003.
Lerman, K. and Shehory, O., Coalition Formation for Large Scale Electronic Markets, Proc. 4th Int. Conf. on Multiagent Systems, Boston, 2000.
Lin, R., Kraus, S., Wilkenfeld, J., and Barry, J., Negotiating with Bounded Rational Agents in Environments with Incomplete Information Using an Automated Agent, Artif. Intell., 2008, vol. 172, nos. 6–7, pp. 823–851.
Rao, A.S. and Georgeff, M.P., Modeling Rational Agents within a BDI-Architecture, Proc. of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR and R-91) Fikes, R. and Sandewall, E., Eds., San Mateo, 1991, pp. 473–484.
Romero, C.J. and Sheremetov, L., Model of Cooperation in Multi Agent Systems with Fuzzy Coalitions, in From Theory to Practice in Multi-Agent Systems, Dunin-Keplicz, B. and Nawarecki, T., Eds.; Lect. Notes Artif. Intell., 2002, vol. 2295, pp. 263–272.
Rosenmuller, J., The Theory of Games and Markets, North Holland, Amsterdam, 1982.
Rosenschein, J. and Genesereth, M., Deals among Rational Agents, Proc. 9th Int. Joint Conf. on Artif. Intell., Los Angeles, 1985, pp. 91–99.
Roth, A., Game-Theoretic Models of Bargaining, Cambridge, 1995.
Sandholm, T., An Implementation of the Contract Net Protocol Based on Marginal Cost Calculations, Proc. 11th Nat. Conf. on Artif. Intell. (AAAI-93), Washington, 1993.
Sandholm, T., Larson, K., Andersson, M., et al., Coalition Structure Generation with Worst Case Guarantees, Artif. Intell., 1999, vol. 111, nos. 1–2, pp. 209–238.
Sandholm, T.W. and Lesser, V.R., Coalitions among Computationally Bounded Agents, Artif. Intell., 1997, vol. 94, nos. 1–2, pp. 99–137.
Schmeidler, D., The Nucleolus of a Characteristic Function Game, SIAM J. Appl. Math., 1969, vol. 17, pp. 1163–1170.
Shapley, L.S., A Value for n-Person Games, in Contributions to the Theory of Games II, Annals of Mathematics Studies, V. 28, Kuhn, H.W. and Tucker, A.W., Eds., Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953.
Shehory, O., Optimality and Risk in Purchase at Multiple Auctions, Proc. 5th Int. Workshop on Informational Agents (CIA-01), Klusch, M. and Zambonelli, F., Eds., 2001; Lect. Notes Artif. Intell., 2001, vol. 2182, pp. 142–153.
Shehory, O. and Kraus, S., Formation of Overlapping Coalitions for Precedence-Ordered Task-Execution among Autonomous Agents, Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. on Multiagent Systems ((ICMAS-96), 1996, pp. 300–337.
Shehory, O. and Kraus, S., Methods for Task Allocation via Agent Coalition Formation, Artif. Intell., 1998, vol. 101, nos. 1–2, pp. 165–200.
Sheremetov, L.B. and Romero, C.J.C., Fuzzy Coalition Formation among Rational Cooperative Agents, in Multi-Agent Systems and Applications III: CEEMAS, Marik, V., Muller, J., and Pechoucek, M., Eds., 2003; Lect. Notes Artif. Intell., 2003, vol. 2691, pp. 268–280.
Shoham, Y. and Leyton-Brown, K., Multiagent Systems: Algorithmic, Game-Theoretic, and Logical Foundations New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Sichman, J., Conte, R., Castelfranchi, C., and Demazeau, Y., A Social Reasoning Mechanism Based on Dependence Networks, Proc. 11th Eur. Conf. on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI-94), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1994.
Sichman, J. and Demazeau, Y., A First Attempt to Use Dependence Situations as a Decision Criterion for Choosing Partners in Multi-Agent Systems, Proc. of ECAI Workshop on Decision Theory for DAI Applications, vol. 1 1994.
Smirnov, A.V., Sheremetov, L.B., Chilov, N., et al., Soft-Computing Technologies for Configuration of Cooperative Supply Chain, Appl. Soft Comput., 2004, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 87–107.
Smith, R.G. and Davis, R., Frameworks for Cooperation in Distributed Problem Solving, IEEE Trans. on System. Man and Cybernetics, 1981, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 61–70.
Suijs, J., Borm, P., Wagenaere, A.D., and Tijs, S., Cooperative Games with Stochastic Payoffs, Eur. J. Operat. Res., 1999, vol. 113, pp. 193–205.
Tijs, S.H., Bounds for the Core and the T-Value, in Game Theory and Mathematical Economics, North-Holland Publ., Amsterdam, 1981.
Vauvert, G. and El Fallah-Segrouhni, A., Coalition Formation among Strong Autonomous and Weak Rational Agents, Proc. 10th Eur. Workshop on Modeling Autonomous Agents in a Multi-Agent World (MAAMAW-01), 2001.
Von Neumann, J. and Morgenstern, O., Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1944.
Wooldridge, M. and Parsons, S., Issues in the Design of Negotiation Protocols for Logic-Based Agent Communication Languages, in Agent-Mediated Electronic Commerce III, Dignum, F. and Cortes, U., Eds.; Lect. Notes Comput. Sci., 2001, vol. 2003, pp. 70–83.
Zlotkin, G. and Rosenschein, J.S., Coalition, Cryptography and Stability: Mechanism for Coalition Formation in Task Oriented Domains, Proc. Nat. Conf. on Artificial Intelligence Seattle, 1994, pp. 432–437.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © A.V. Smirnov, L.B. Sheremetov, 2011, published in Iskusstvennyi Intellekt i Prinyatie Reshenii, 2011, No. 1, pp. 36–48.
About this article
Cite this article
Smirnov, A.V., Sheremetov, L.B. Models of coalition formation among cooperative agents: The current state and prospects of research. Sci. Tech.Inf. Proc. 39, 283–292 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3103/S014768821205005X
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S014768821205005X