Department of Mathematics
Title : Interim agreements: In the footsteps of Zeno, Parkinson, and Nash
| Speaker: Dov Samet Affiliation: Tel Avis University Time: 10:30 am Thursday, 14 February, 2013 Location: Room 317, Owen Glenn Building |
Abstract
| Zeno's paradoxes of motion, which claim that moving from one point to another cannot be accomplished in finite time, seem to be of serious concern when moving towards an agreement in utility space is concerned. Parkinson's Law of Triviality implies that such an agreement cannot be reached in finite time. By explicitly modeling dynamic processes of reaching interim agreements, we show that if utilities are von Neumann-Morgenstern, then no such process can bring about an agreement in finite time in linear bargaining problems. To extend this result for all bargaining problems, we characterize a particular path illustrated by Raiffa, and show that no agreement is reached along this path in finite time. When deadlines are set, then agreements are reached exactly at the deadline, proving Parkinson's Law that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. |
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Programmes and Centres
- New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (NZIMA)
- Community for Understanding and Learning in the Mathematical Sciences (CULMS)
- Centre for Mathematical Social Science (CMSS)
- Department of Computer Science
- Department of Engineering Science
- Department of Physics
- Department of Statistics
- Auckland Bioengineering Institute
