On minimum integer representations of weighted games

We study minimum integer representations of weighted games, i.e., representations where the weights are integers and every other integer representation is at least as large in each component. Those minimum integer representations, if the exist at all, are linked with some solution concepts in game theory. Closing existing gaps in the literature, we prove that each weighted game with two types of voters admits a (unique) minimum integer representation, and give new examples for more than two types of voters without a minimum integer representation. We characterize the possible weights in minimum integer representations and give examples for $t\ge 4$ types of voters without a minimum integer representation preserving types, i.e., where we additionally require that the weights are equal within equivalence classes of voters.Comment: 29 page

On minimum sum representations for weighted voting games

A proposal in a weighted voting game is accepted if the sum of the (non-negative) weights of the "yea" voters is at least as large as a given quota. Several authors have considered representations of weighted voting games with minimum sum, where the weights and the quota are restricted to be integers. Freixas and Molinero have classified all weighted voting games without a unique minimum sum representation for up to 8 voters. Here we exhaustively classify all weighted voting games consisting of 9 voters which do not admit a unique minimum sum integer weight representation.Comment: 7 pages, 6 tables; enumerations correcte

Bounds for the Nakamura number

The Nakamura number is an appropriate invariant of a simple game to study the existence of social equilibria and the possibility of cycles. For symmetric quota games its number can be obtained by an easy formula. For some subclasses of simple games the corresponding Nakamura number has also been characterized. However, in general, not much is known about lower and upper bounds depending of invariants on simple, complete or weighted games. Here, we survey such results and highlight connections with other game theoretic concepts.Comment: 23 pages, 3 tables; a few more references adde

Bilateral symmetry and modified Pascal triangles in Parsimonious games

We discuss the prominent role played by bilateral symmetry and modified Pascal triangles in self twin games, a subset of constant sum homogeneous weighted majority games. We show that bilateral symmetry of the free representations unequivocally identifies and characterizes this class of games and that modified Pascal triangles describe their cardinality for combinations of m and k, respectively linked through linear transforms to the key parameters n, number of players and h, number of types in the game. Besides, we derive the whole set of self twin games in the form of a genealogical tree obtained through a simple constructive procedure in which each game of a generation, corresponding to a given value of m, is able to give birth to one child or two children (depending on the parity of m), self twin games of the next generation. The breeding rules are, given the parity of m, invariant through generations and quite simple.Comment: pp. 2

On the inverse power index problem

Weighted voting games are frequently used in decision making. Each voter has a weight and a proposal is accepted if the weight sum of the supporting voters exceeds a quota. One line of research is the efficient computation of so-called power indices measuring the influence of a voter. We treat the inverse problem: Given an influence vector and a power index, determine a weighted voting game such that the distribution of influence among the voters is as close as possible to the given target value. We present exact algorithms and computational results for the Shapley-Shubik and the (normalized) Banzhaf power index.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, 12 table

Twin relationships in Parsimonious Games: some results

In a vintage paper concerning Parsimonious games, a subset of constant sum homogeneous weighted majority games, Isbell introduced a twin relationship based on transposition properties of the incidence matrices upon minimal winning coalitions of such games. A careful investigation of such properties allowed the discovery of some results on twin games presented in this paper. In detail we show that a) twin games have the same minimal winning quota and b) each Parsimonious game admits a unique balanced lottery on minimal winning coalitions, whose probabilities are given by the individual weights of its twin game