Decommitment in a competitive multi-agent transportation setting

P.J. t Hoen, V. Robu, J.A. Poutré, la

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Decommitment it; the action of foregoing of a contract for another (superior) offer. It has been analytically shown that, using decommitment, agents can reach higher utility levels in case of negotiations with uncertainty about future opportunities. We study the decommitmcnt concept for the novel setting of a large-scale logistics setting with rnultiple, comppting companies. Orders for transportation of loads are acquired by agents of the (competing) companies by bidding in online auctions. We find significant increases in profit when the agents can decommit and postpone the transportation of a load to a more suitable time. Furthermore, we analyze the circumstances for which decommitment has a positive impact if agents are capable of handling multiple contracts simultaneously. Lastly, we present a demonstrator of the developed model in the form of a Java Applet.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSoftware agent-based application, platforms and development kits
EditorsR. Unland, M. Klusch, M. Calisti
Place of PublicationBerlin
PublisherBirkhäuser Verlag
Pages409-432
Number of pages448
ISBN (Print)3-7643-7347-4
Publication statusPublished - 2005

Publication series

NameWhitestein series in software agent technologies

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