LARGENESS OF THE CORE OF k-CONVEX SYMMETRIC GAMES

A cooperative TU game is said to posses a large core as defined by Sharkey [1982] if for every acceptable vector there is a smaller core vector in the game. This paper is devoted to characterization(s) of largeness of the core of a subclass of games known as k-convex games (containing the convex games in case k = n). The k-convex games were defined by Driessen [1988] because of the core structure they possess, which is the same as that of a suitably defined convex game. The main goal is to show that the totally balanced symmetric k-convex games possess a large core if and only if the game is convex.

AVERAGE RULES FOR COOPERATIVE TU GAMES

In this paper, we propose a new single valued rule based on the concept of fair division for all cooperative transferable utility (TU) games. In any cooperative TU game, primarily the coalitions that are likely to form are identified and each such coalition is fixed with a payoff vector based on the notion of fairness. The value of the single valued rule is obtained from the collection of all coalition structures consisting of the coalitions that are likely to form. The uniqueness of the new rule is followed by its existence and computational simplicity for all TU games. Finally, a linear average rule is defined, and some of its properties are discussed.

THE RIVER SHARING PROBLEM: A SURVEY

The river sharing problem deals with the fair distribution of welfare resulting from the optimal allocation of water among a set of riparian agents. Ambec and Sprumont [Sharing a river, J. Econ. Theor. 107, 453–462] address this problem by modeling it as a cooperative TU-game on the set of riparian agents. Solutions to that problem are reviewed in this article. These solutions are obtained via an axiomatic study on the class of river TU-games or via a market mechanism.