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We present a novel bilateral negotiation model that allows a self-interested agent to learn how to negotiate over multiple issues in the presence of user preference uncertainty. The model relies upon interpretable strategy templates…

Multiagent Systems · Computer Science 2022-01-10 Pallavi Bagga , Nicola Paoletti , Kostas Stathis

We study a repeated Principal Agent problem between a long lived Principal and Agent pair in a prior free setting. In our setting, the sequence of realized states of nature may be adversarially chosen, the Agent is non-myopic, and the…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2023-11-15 Natalie Collina , Aaron Roth , Han Shao

A striking limitation of human cognition is our inability to execute some tasks simultaneously. Recent work suggests that such limitations can arise from a fundamental tradeoff in network architectures that is driven by the sharing of…

Neurons and Cognition · Quantitative Biology 2020-07-08 Yotam Sagiv , Sebastian Musslick , Yael Niv , Jonathan D. Cohen

We investigate the power of randomness in the context of a fundamental Bayesian optimal mechanism design problem--a single seller aims to maximize expected revenue by allocating multiple kinds of resources to "unit-demand" agents with…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2010-02-24 Shuchi Chawla , David Malec , Balasubramanian Sivan

We use the recently developed probabilistic analysis of mean field games with finitely many states in the weak formulation, to set-up a principal / agent contract theory model where the principal faces a large population of agents…

Probability · Mathematics 2018-08-27 Rene Carmona , Peiqi Wang

A principal wishes to transact business with a multidimensional distribution of agents whose preferences are known only in the aggregate. Assuming a twist (= generalized Spence-Mirrlees single-crossing) hypothesis and that agents can choose…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2009-12-17 Alessio Figalli , Young-Heon Kim , Robert J. McCann

This paper explores the capacity of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to autonomously design incentive-compatible contracts in dual-principal-agent settings, a relatively unexplored aspect of algorithmic mechanism design. We develop a…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2024-06-14 Qian Qi

We introduce a class of robust control problems formulated in min-max form, in which the principal agent is viewed as a central planner facing Nature. The agent's cost is a nonlinear function of all its possible realizations, encompassing…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2026-04-24 François Delarue , Pierre Lavigne

Markets increasingly accommodate large language models (LLMs) as autonomous decision-making agents. As this transition occurs, it becomes critical to evaluate how these agents behave relative to their human and task-specific statistical…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2026-01-27 Crystal Qian , Kehang Zhu , John Horton , Benjamin S. Manning , Vivian Tsai , James Wexler , Nithum Thain

In this paper, we consider the revealed preferences problem from a learning perspective. Every day, a price vector and a budget is drawn from an unknown distribution, and a rational agent buys his most preferred bundle according to some…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2012-11-20 Morteza Zadimoghaddam , Aaron Roth

We investigate the probabilistic feasibility of randomized solutions to two distinct classes of uncertain multi-agent optimization programs. We first assume that only the constraints of the program are affected by uncertainty, while the…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2020-09-29 George Pantazis , Filiberto Fele , Kostas Margellos

Consider a principal who wants to search through a space of stochastic solutions for one maximizing their utility. If the principal cannot conduct this search on their own, they may instead delegate this problem to an agent with distinct…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2024-11-04 Curtis Bechtel , Shaddin Dughmi

Consider costly and time-consuming tasks that add up to the success of a project, and must be fitted into a given time-frame. This is an instance of the classic budgeted maximization (knapsack) problem, which admits an FPTAS. Now assume an…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2026-04-10 Ilan Doron-Arad , Hadas Shachnai , Gilad Shmerler , Inbal Talgam-Cohen

A principal and an agent can launch a project under unanimous consent. Their individual payoffs from the project depend on an underlying state, and the agent privately knows his own preference. The principal can conduct a test to learn…

Theoretical Economics · Economics 2026-02-06 Yingkai Li , Boli Xu

We propose to study electricity capacity remuneration mechanism design through a Principal-Agent approach. The Principal represents the aggregation of electricity consumers (or a representative entity), subject to the physical risk of…

General Economics · Economics 2020-09-02 Clémence Alasseur , Heythem Farhat , Marcelo Saguan

We consider a model of Bayesian observational learning in which a sequence of agents receives a private signal about an underlying binary state of the world. Each agent makes a decision based on its own signal and its observations of…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-04-29 Shuo Wu , Pawan Poojary , Randall Berry

Principal agent games are a growing area of research which focuses on the optimal behaviour of a principal and an agent, with the former contracting work from the latter, in return for providing a monetary award. While this field…

Mathematical Finance · Quantitative Finance 2022-06-28 Dena Firoozi , Arvind V Shrivats , Sebastian Jaimungal

A network of agents attempt to learn some unknown state of the world drawn by nature from a finite set. Agents observe private signals conditioned on the true state, and form beliefs about the unknown state accordingly. Each agent may face…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2015-03-13 Shahin Shahrampour , Mohammad Amin Rahimian , Ali Jadbabaie

We study the power of menus of contracts in principal-agent problems with adverse selection (agents can be one of several types) and moral hazard (we cannot observe agent actions directly). For principal-agent problems with $T$ types and…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2023-06-23 Guru Guruganesh , Jon Schneider , Joshua Wang , Junyao Zhao

We study the optimal design of electricity contracts among a population of consumers with different needs. This question is tackled within the framework of Principal-Agent problems in presence of adverse selection. The particular features…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2019-09-17 Clémence Alasseur , Ivar Ekeland , Romuald Elie , Nicolás Hernández Santibáñez , Dylan Possamaï