43,607 research outputs found
Mechanism Design with Strategic Mediators
We consider the problem of designing mechanisms that interact with strategic
agents through strategic intermediaries (or mediators), and investigate the
cost to society due to the mediators' strategic behavior. Selfish agents with
private information are each associated with exactly one strategic mediator,
and can interact with the mechanism exclusively through that mediator. Each
mediator aims to optimize the combined utility of his agents, while the
mechanism aims to optimize the combined utility of all agents. We focus on the
problem of facility location on a metric induced by a publicly known tree. With
non-strategic mediators, there is a dominant strategy mechanism that is
optimal. We show that when both agents and mediators act strategically, there
is no dominant strategy mechanism that achieves any approximation. We, thus,
slightly relax the incentive constraints, and define the notion of a two-sided
incentive compatible mechanism. We show that the -competitive deterministic
mechanism suggested by Procaccia and Tennenholtz (2013) and Dekel et al. (2010)
for lines extends naturally to trees, and is still -competitive as well as
two-sided incentive compatible. This is essentially the best possible. We then
show that by allowing randomization one can construct a -competitive
randomized mechanism that is two-sided incentive compatible, and this is also
essentially tight. This result also closes a gap left in the work of Procaccia
and Tennenholtz (2013) and Lu et al. (2009) for the simpler problem of
designing strategy-proof mechanisms for weighted agents with no mediators on a
line, while extending to the more general model of trees. We also investigate a
further generalization of the above setting where there are multiple levels of
mediators.Comment: 46 pages, 1 figure, an extended abstract of this work appeared in
ITCS 201
Distributed Signaling Games
A recurring theme in recent computer science literature is that proper design
of signaling schemes is a crucial aspect of effective mechanisms aiming to
optimize social welfare or revenue. One of the research endeavors of this line
of work is understanding the algorithmic and computational complexity of
designing efficient signaling schemes. In reality, however, information is
typically not held by a central authority, but is distributed among multiple
sources (third-party "mediators"), a fact that dramatically changes the
strategic and combinatorial nature of the signaling problem, making it a game
between information providers, as opposed to a traditional mechanism design
problem.
In this paper we introduce {\em distributed signaling games}, while using
display advertising as a canonical example for introducing this foundational
framework. A distributed signaling game may be a pure coordination game (i.e.,
a distributed optimization task), or a non-cooperative game. In the context of
pure coordination games, we show a wide gap between the computational
complexity of the centralized and distributed signaling problems. On the other
hand, we show that if the information structure of each mediator is assumed to
be "local", then there is an efficient algorithm that finds a near-optimal
(-approximation) distributed signaling scheme.
In the context of non-cooperative games, the outcome generated by the
mediators' signals may have different value to each (due to the auctioneer's
desire to align the incentives of the mediators with his own by relative
compensations). We design a mechanism for this problem via a novel application
of Shapley's value, and show that it possesses some interesting properties, in
particular, it always admits a pure Nash equilibrium, and it never decreases
the revenue of the auctioneer
Computer Science and Game Theory: A Brief Survey
There has been a remarkable increase in work at the interface of computer
science and game theory in the past decade. In this article I survey some of
the main themes of work in the area, with a focus on the work in computer
science. Given the length constraints, I make no attempt at being
comprehensive, especially since other surveys are also available, and a
comprehensive survey book will appear shortly.Comment: To appear; Palgrave Dictionary of Economic
Convergence of Learning Dynamics in Information Retrieval Games
We consider a game-theoretic model of information retrieval with strategic
authors. We examine two different utility schemes: authors who aim at
maximizing exposure and authors who want to maximize active selection of their
content (i.e. the number of clicks). We introduce the study of author learning
dynamics in such contexts. We prove that under the probability ranking
principle (PRP), which forms the basis of the current state of the art ranking
methods, any better-response learning dynamics converges to a pure Nash
equilibrium. We also show that other ranking methods induce a strategic
environment under which such a convergence may not occur
Perfect Implementation
Privacy and trust aect our strategic thinking, yet they have not been precisely modeled in mechanism design. In settings of incomplete information, traditional implementations of a normal-form mechanism - by disregarding the players' privacy, or assuming trust in a mediator - may fail to reach the mechanism's objectives. We thus investigate implementations of a new type. We put forward the notion of a perfect implementation of a normal-form mechanism M: in essence, a concrete extensive-form mechanism exactly preserving all strategic properties of M, without relying on a trusted mediator or violating the privacy of the players. We prove that any normal-form mechanism can be perfectly implemented by a verifiable mediator using envelopes and an envelope-randomizing device (i.e., the same tools used for running fair lotteries or tallying secret votes). Differently from a trusted mediator, a veriable one only performs prescribed public actions, so that everyone can verify that he is acting properly, and that he never learns any information that should remain private
Moderators, mediators and nonspecific predictors of outcome after cognitive rehabilitation of executive functions in a randomised controlled trial
Moderators, mediators and nonspecific predictors of treatment after cognitive rehabilitation of executive functions in a randomised controlled trial
Objective: To explore moderators, mediators and nonspecific predictors of executive functioning after cognitive rehabilitation in a randomised controlled trial, comparing Goal Management Training (GMT) with an active psycho-educative control-intervention, in patients with chronic acquired brain injury.
Methods: Seventy patients with executive dysfunction were randomly allocated to GMT (n = 33) or control (n = 37). Outcome measures were established by factor-analysis and included cognitive executive complaints, emotional dysregulation and psychological distress.
Results: Higher age and IQ emerged as nonspecific predictors. Verbal memory and planning ability at baseline moderated cognitive executive complaints, while planning ability at six-month follow-up mediated all three outcome measures. Inhibitory cognitive control emerged as a unique GMT specific mediator. A general pattern regardless of intervention was identified; higher levels of self-reported cognitive—and executive–symptoms of emotional dysregulation and psychological distress at six-month follow-up mediated less improvement across outcome factors.
Conclusions: The majority of treatment effects were nonspecific to intervention, probably underscoring the variables’ general contribution to outcome of cognitive rehabilitation interventions. Interventions targeting specific cognitive domains, such as attention or working memory, need to take into account the patients’ overall cognitive and emotional self-perceived functioning. Future studies should investigate the identified predictors further, and also consider other predictor candidates
Innovation attributes and managers' decisions about the adoption of innovations in organizations: A meta-analytical review
The adoption of innovations has emerged as a dominant research topic in the management of innovation in organizations, although investigations often yield mixed results. To help managers and researchers improve their effectiveness, the authors employed a meta-analysis integrated with structural equation modeling to analyze the associations between the attributes of innovations, managers' behavioral preferences, and organizations' innovation adoption decisions in a mediated-moderated framework. Our findings offer evidence that attributes of innovations influence managers' behavioral preferences and, consequently, adoption decisions in organizations. We also observe the significance of the context in which the adoption decision occurs as well as the research settings employed by scholars. Finally, we discuss the theoretical contribution and practical implications of our meta-analytical results
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