Craig Boutilier
Department of Computer Science
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON M5S 3H5
email: cebly@cs.toronto.edu
Holger H. Hoos
Department of Computer Science
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
email: hoos@cs.ubc.ca
Abstract
Combinatorial auctions provide a valuable mechanism for the allocation of goods
in settings where buyer valuations exhibit complex structure with respect to
substitutability and complementarity. Most algorithms are designed to work
with explicit bids for concrete bundles of goods. However, logical
bidding languages allow the expression of complex utility functions in a
natural and concise way. We introduce a new, generalized language where bids
are given by propositional formulae whose subformulae can be annotated with
prices. This language allows bidder utilities to be formulated more naturally
and concisely than existing languages. Furthermore, we outline a general
algorithmic technique for winner determination for auctions that use this
bidding language.
To appear, IJCAI-01
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