Issues in Multiagent Resource Allocation
Yann Chevaleyre, Paul E. Dunne, Ulle Endriss, Jérôme Lang, Michel Lemaître, Nicolas Maudet, Julian Padget, Steve Phelps, Juan A. Rodrígues-Aguilar, Paulo Sousa

Abstract:
Issues in Multiagent Resource Allocation
Yann Chevaleyre, Paul E. Dunne, Ulle Endriss, Jerome Lang, Michel Lemaitre,
  Nicolas Maudet, Julian Padget, Steve Phelps, Juan A. Rodrigues-Aguilar,
  Paulo Sousa

Abstract:
The allocation of resources within a system of autonomous agents, that
not only have preferences over alternative allocations of resources
but also actively participate in computing an allocation, is an
exciting area of research at the interface of Computer Science and
Economics. This paper is a survey of some of the most salient issues
in Multiagent Resource Allocation. In particular, we review various
languages to represent the preferences of agents over alternative
allocations of resources as well as different measures of social
welfare to assess the overall quality of an allocation. We also
discuss pertinent issues regarding allocation procedures and present
important complexity results. Our presentation of theoretical issues
is complemented by a discussion of software packages for the
simulation of agent-based market places. We also introduce four major
application areas for Multiagent Resource Allocation, namely
industrial procurement, sharing of satellite resources, manufacturing
control, and grid computing.