Abstract:

In this work we present an application which can be used to perform fair division. In general, fair division addresses the way that sets of items can be distributed among individuals so that they all feel satisfied with the share they received. Fair division is usually considered as a game where players, i.e., individuals, valuate items differently. The division methods we selected to implement guarantee that all individuals receive a fair share. In particular, we implemented a method, first described in Talmud and later typically proved via game-theoretic arguments, for the bankruptcy problem where the objective is to divide in a fair way an insufficient amount of divisible items (e.g., money) among individuals with different claims. Furthermore, we implemented the Sealed Bids method which can be used for the fair division of indivisible (i.e., discrete) items (e.g., an apartment) among individuals who valuate these items differently.

Our application could be used for educational and training purposes in order to help students familiarize with terms, concepts and techniques from algorithmic game theory. It could also be exploited in law-related real-world scenario like for example dividing an estate among creditors when the total debts claimed exceed the existing estate or for the purposes of inheritance sharing when beneficiaries assign different values to the available items. The application has an easy-to-use interface and can run on a standard computer without requiring advanced skills on behalf of involved users.

Keywords:

Application, education, training, law, fair division, game theory.