67 research outputs found
Inequality and Network Formation Games
This paper addresses the matter of inequality in network formation games. We
employ a quantity that we are calling the Nash Inequality Ratio (NIR), defined
as the maximal ratio between the highest and lowest costs incurred to
individual agents in a Nash equilibrium strategy, to characterize the extent to
which inequality is possible in equilibrium. We give tight upper bounds on the
NIR for the network formation games of Fabrikant et al. (PODC '03) and Ehsani
et al. (SPAA '11). With respect to the relationship between equality and social
efficiency, we show that, contrary to common expectations, efficiency does not
necessarily come at the expense of increased inequality.Comment: 27 pages. 4 figures. Accepted to Internet Mathematics (2014
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