A Comparison of some Negotiation Algorithms using a Tournament-Based Approach

Abstract

This paper provides some results and analysis of several negotiation algorithms. We have used a tournament-based approach to evaluation and applied this within a community of Buyers and Sellers in a simulated car hire scenario. An automated negotiation environment has been developed and the various negotiation algorithms made to compete against each other. In a single tournament, each algorithm was used as both a Buyer-negotiator and a Seller-negotiator. Each negotiating algorithm accommodates the parameters for negotiation as a set of desirable goals, represented as examples of product specifications. It was the task of each negotiating algorithm to get the best deal possible from every one of their opposites (i.e. Buyer versus Seller) in the sense of being close to the examples they were given as goals. One algorithm proved to be superior to the others against which it was made to compete