This work develops algorithmic results for the classic cake-cutting problem in which a divisible, heterogeneous resource (modeled as a cake) needs to be partitioned among agents with distinct preferences. We focus on a standard formulation of cake cutting wherein each agent must receive a contiguous piece of the cake. While multiple hardness results exist in this setup for finding fair/efficient cake divisions, we show that, if the value densities of the agents satisfy the monotone likelihood ratio property (MLRP), then strong algorithmic results hold for various notions of fairness and economic efficiency.
Addressing cake-cutting instances with MLRP, first we develop an algorithm that finds cake divisions (with connected pieces) that are envy-free, up to an arbitrary precision. The time complexity of our algorithm is polynomial in the number of agents and the bit complexity of an underlying Lipschitz constant. We obtain similar positive results for maximizing social (utilitarian) and egalitarian welfare. In addition, we show that, under MLRP, the problem of maximizing Nash social welfare admits a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme (FPTAS).
Many distribution families bear MLRP. In particular, this property holds if all the value densities belong to any one of the following families: Gaussian (with the same variance), linear, binomial, Poisson, and exponential distributions. Furthermore, it is known that linear translations of any log-concave function satisfy MLRP. Therefore, our results also hold when the value densities of the agents are linear translations of the following (log-concave) distributions: Laplace, gamma, beta, Subbotin, chi-square, Dirichlet, and logistic. Hence, through MLRP, the current work obtains novel cake-cutting algorithms for multiple distribution families.
The classic cake-cutting problem provides a model for addressing fair and efficient allocation of a divisible, heterogeneous resource (metaphorically, the cake) among agents with distinct preferences. Focusing on a standard formulation of cake cutting, in which each agent must receive a contiguous piece of the cake, this work establishes algorithmic and hardness results for multiple fairness/efficiency measures. First, we consider the well-studied notion of envy-freeness and develop an efficient algorithm that finds a cake division (with connected pieces) wherein the envy is multiplicatively w…
We initiate the study of multi-layered cake cutting with the goal of fairly allocating multiple divisible resources (layers of a cake) among a set of agents. The key requirement is that each agent can only utilize a single resource at each time interval. Several real-life applications exhibit such restrictions on overlapping pieces; for example, assigning time intervals over multiple facilities and resources or assigning shifts to medical professionals. We investigate the existence and computation of envy-free and proportional allocations. We show that envy-free allocations that are both feasi…
We study the proportional chore division problem where a protocol wants to divide an undesirable object, called chore, among $n$ different players. The goal is to find an allocation such that the cost of the chore assigned to each player be at most $1/n$ of the total cost. This problem is the dual variant of the cake cutting problem in which we want to allocate a desirable object. Edmonds and Pruhs showed that any protocol for the proportional cake cutting must use at least $Ω(n \log n)$ queries in the worst case, however, finding a lower bound for the proportional chore division remained an i…
We study the paradigmatic fair division problem of allocating a divisible good among agents with heterogeneous preferences, commonly known as cake cutting. Classical cake cutting protocols are susceptible to manipulation. Do their strategic outcomes still guarantee fairness? To address this question we adopt a novel algorithmic approach, by designing a concrete computational framework for fair division---the class of Generalized Cut and Choose (GCC) protocols}---and reasoning about the game-theoretic properties of algorithms that operate in this model. The class of GCC protocols includes the m…
In the classic cake-cutting problem (Steinhaus, 1948), a heterogeneous resource has to be divided among n agents with different valuations in a proportional way --- giving each agent a piece with a value of at least 1/n of the total. In many applications, such as dividing a land-estate or a time-interval, it is also important that the pieces are connected. We propose two additional requirements: resource-monotonicity (RM) and population-monotonicity (PM). When either the cake or the set of agents changes and the cake is re-divided using the same rule, the utility of all remaining agents must c…
The classic cake-cutting problem provides a model for addressing the fair and efficient allocation of a divisible, heterogeneous resource among agents with distinct preferences. Focusing on a standard formulation of cake cutting, in which each agent must receive a contiguous piece of the cake in an offline setting, this work instead focuses on online allocating non-contiguous pieces of cake among agents and establishes algorithmic results for fairness measures. In this regard, we made use of classic adversarial multi-armed bandits to achieve sub-linear Fairness and Revenue Regret at the same t…
In this article we study the problem of fair division. In particular we study a notion introduced by J. Barbanel that generalizes super envy-free fair division. We give a new proof of his result. Our approach allows us to give an explicit bound for this kind of fair division. Furthermore, we also give a theoretical answer to an open problem posed by Barbanel in 1996. Roughly speaking, this question is: how can we decide if there exists a fair division satisfying some inequalities constraints? Furthermore, when all the measures are given with piecewise constant density functions then we show ho…
The problem of fair division known as "cake cutting" has been the focus of multiple papers spanning several decades. The most prominent problem in this line of work has been to bound the query complexity of computing an envy-free outcome in the Robertson-Webb query model. However, the root of this problem's complexity is somewhat artificial: the agents' values are assumed to be additive across different pieces of the "cake" but infinitely complicated within each piece. This is unrealistic in most of the motivating examples, where the cake represents a finite collection of homogeneous goods. We…
We study the fair division of a continuous resource, such as a land-estate or a time-interval, among pre-specified groups of agents, such as families. Each family is given a piece of the resource and this piece is used simultaneously by all family members, while different members may have different value functions. Three ways to assess the fairness of such a division are examined. (a) Average Fairness means that each family's share is fair according to the "family value function", defined as the arithmetic mean of the value functions of the family members. (b) Unanimous Fairness means that all…
We study the problem of dividing a multi-layered cake under non-overlapping constraints. This problem, recently proposed by Hosseini et al. (IJCAI, 2020), captures several natural scenarios such as the allocation of multiple facilities over time where each agent can utilize at most one facility simultaneously, and the allocation of tasks over time where each agent can perform at most one task simultaneously. We establish the existence of an envy-free multi-division that is both non-overlapping and contiguous within each layer when the number of agents is a prime power and the number of layers …
Consider $n$ players having preferences over the connected pieces of a cake, identified with the interval $[0,1]$. A classical theorem, found independently by Stromquist and by Woodall in 1980, ensures that, under mild conditions, it is possible to divide the cake into $n$ connected pieces and assign these pieces to the players in an envy-free manner, i.e, such that no player strictly prefers a piece that has not been assigned to her. One of these conditions, considered as crucial, is that no player is happy with an empty piece. We prove that, even if this condition is not satisfied, it is sti…
Cake cutting is a classic fair division problem, with the cake serving as a metaphor for a heterogeneous divisible resource. Recently, it was shown that for any number of players with arbitrary preferences over a cake, it is possible to partition the players into groups of any desired size and divide the cake among the groups so that each group receives a single contiguous piece and every player is envy-free. For two groups, we characterize the group sizes for which such an assignment can be computed by a finite algorithm, showing that the task is possible exactly when one of the groups is a s…
We consider the classic problem of fairly dividing a heterogeneous good ("cake") among several agents with different valuations. Classic cake-cutting procedures either allocate each agent a collection of disconnected pieces, or assume that the cake is a one-dimensional interval. In practice, however, the two-dimensional shape of the allotted pieces is important. In particular, when building a house or designing an advertisement in printed or electronic media, squares are more usable than long and narrow rectangles. We thus introduce and study the problem of fair two-dimensional division wherei…
In this article we suggest a model of computation for the cake cutting problem. In this model the mediator can ask the same queries as in the Robertson-Webb model but he or she can only perform algebraic operations as in the Blum-Shub-Smale model. All existing algorithms described in the Robertson-Webb model can be described in this new model.We show that in this model there exist explicit couples of measures for which no algorithm outputs an equitable fair division with connected parts.We also show that there exist explicit set of measures for which no algorithm in this model outputs a fair d…
This paper extends the classic cake-cutting problem to a situation in which the "cake" is divided among families. Each piece of cake is owned and used simultaneously by all members of the family. A typical example of such a cake is land. We examine three ways to assess the fairness of such a division, based on the classic no-envy criterion: (a) Average envy-freeness means that for each family, the average value of its share (averaged over all family members) is weakly larger than the average value of any other share; (b) Unanimous envy-freeness means that in each family, each member values the…
Cutting a cake is a metaphor for the problem of dividing a resource (cake) among several agents. The problem becomes non-trivial when the agents have different valuations for different parts of the cake (i.e. one agent may like chocolate while the other may like cream). A fair division of the cake is one that takes into account the individual valuations of agents and partitions the cake based on some fairness criterion. Fair division may be accomplished in a distributed or centralized way. Due to its natural and practical appeal, it has been a subject of study in economics. To best of our know…
We study the monotonicity properties of solutions in the classic problem of fair cake-cutting --- dividing a heterogeneous resource among agents with different preferences. Resource- and population-monotonicity relate to scenarios where the cake, or the number of participants who divide the cake, changes. It is required that the utility of all participants change in the same direction: either all of them are better-off (if there is more to share or fewer to share among) or all are worse-off (if there is less to share or more to share among). We formally introduce these concepts to the cake-cut…
A cake has to be divided fairly among $n$ agents. When all agents have equal entitlements, it is known that such a division can be implemented with $n-1$ cuts. When agents may have different entitlements, the paper shows that at least $2 n -2$ cuts may be necessary, and $O(n \log(n))$ cuts are always sufficient.
Cake-cutting is a fundamental model of dividing a heterogeneous resource, such as land, broadcast time, and advertisement space. In this study, we consider the problem of dividing a discrete cake fairly in which the indivisible goods are aligned on a path and agents are interested in receiving a connected subset of items. We prove that a connected division of indivisible items satisfying a discrete counterpart of envy-freeness, called envy-freeness up to one good (EF1), always exists for any number of agents n with monotone valuations. Our result settles an open question raised by Bilò et al. …
Single minded agents have strict preferences, in which a bundle is acceptable only if it meets a certain demand. Such preferences arise naturally in scenarios such as allocating computational resources among users, where the goal is to fairly serve as many requests as possible. In this paper we study the fair division problem for such agents, which is harder to handle due to discontinuity and complementarities of the preferences. Our solution concept---the competitive allocation from equal incomes (CAEI)---is inspired from market equilibria and implements fair outcomes through a pricing mechan…
We study the problem of fairly allocating a divisible resource, also known as cake cutting, with an additional requirement that the shares that different agents receive should be sufficiently separated from one another. This captures, for example, constraints arising from social distancing guidelines. While it is sometimes impossible to allocate a proportional share to every agent under the separation requirement, we show that the well-known criterion of maximin share fairness can always be attained. We then provide algorithmic analysis of maximin share fairness in this setting -- for instance…
We study the recently introduced cake-cutting setting in which the cake is represented by an undirected graph. This generalizes the canonical interval cake and allows for modeling the division of road networks. We show that when the graph is a forest, an allocation satisfying the well-known criterion of maximin share fairness always exists. Our result holds even when separation constraints are imposed, in which case no multiplicative approximation of proportionality can be guaranteed. Furthermore, while maximin share fairness is not always achievable for general graphs, we prove that ordinal r…
We consider the problem of fairly dividing a two dimensional heterogeneous good among multiple players. Applications include division of land as well as ad space in print and electronic media. Classical cake cutting protocols primarily consider a one-dimensional resource, or allocate each player multiple infinitesimally small "pieces". In practice, however, the two dimensional \emph{shape} of the allotted piece is of crucial importance in many applications (e.g. squares or bounded aspect-ratio rectangles are most useful for building houses, as well as advertisements). We thus introduce and stu…
In this note we study a problem of fair division in the absence of full information. We give an algorithm which solves the following problem: n $\ge$ 2 persons want to cut a cake into n shares so that each person will get at least 1/n of the cake for his or her own measure, furthermore the preferences of one person are secret. How can we construct such shares? Our algorithm is a slight modification of the Even-Paz algorithm and allows to give a connected part to each agent. Moreover, the number of cuts used during the algorithm is optimal: O (n log(n)) .
We study classic fair-division problems in a partial information setting. This paper respectively addresses fair division of rent, cake, and indivisible goods among agents with cardinal preferences. We will show that, for all of these settings and under appropriate valuations, a fair (or an approximately fair) division among n agents can be efficiently computed using only the valuations of n-1 agents. The nth (secretive) agent can make an arbitrary selection after the division has been proposed and, irrespective of her choice, the computed division will admit an overall fair allocation. For th…
We study the classic problem of fairly dividing a heterogeneous and divisible resource -- represented by a cake, $[0,1]$ -- among $n$ agents. This work considers an interesting variant of the problem where agents are embedded on a graph. The graphical constraint entails that each agent evaluates her allocated share only against her neighbor's share. Given a graph, the goal is to efficiently find a locally envy-free allocation where every agent values her share to be at least as much as any of her neighbor's share. The best known algorithm (by Aziz and Mackenzie) for finding envy-free cake divi…
We study a new but simple model for online fair division in which indivisible items arrive one-by-one and agents have monotone utilities over bundles of the items. We consider axiomatic properties of mechanisms for this model such as strategy-proofness, envy-freeness, and Pareto efficiency. We prove a number of impossibility results that justify why we consider relaxations of the properties, as well as why we consider restricted preference domains on which good axiomatic properties can be achieved. We propose two mechanisms that have good axiomatic fairness properties on restricted but common …
We study the problem of fairly dividing a heterogeneous resource, commonly known as cake cutting and chore division, in the presence of strategic agents. While a number of results in this setting have been established in previous works, they rely crucially on the free disposal assumption, meaning that the mechanism is allowed to throw away part of the resource at no cost. In the present work, we remove this assumption and focus on mechanisms that always allocate the entire resource. We exhibit a truthful and envy-free mechanism for cake cutting and chore division for two agents with piecewise …
A tangle is a connected topological space constructed by gluing several copies of the unit interval $[0, 1]$. We explore which tangles guarantee envy-free allocations of connected shares for n agents, meaning that such allocations exist no matter which monotonic and continuous functions represent agents' valuations. Each single tangle $\mathcal{T}$ corresponds in a natural way to an infinite topological class $\mathcal{G}(\mathcal{T})$ of multigraphs, many of which are graphs. This correspondence links EF fair division of tangles to EFk$_{outer}$ fair division of graphs. We know from Bilò et a…
We study the fair division problem on divisible heterogeneous resources (the cake cutting problem) with strategic agents, where each agent can manipulate his/her private valuation in order to receive a better allocation. A (direct-revelation) mechanism takes agents' reported valuations as input and outputs an allocation that satisfies a given fairness requirement. A natural and fundamental open problem, first raised by [Chen et al., 2010] and subsequently raised by [Procaccia, 2013] [Aziz and Ye, 2014] [Branzei and Miltersen, 2015] [Menon and Larson, 2017] [Bei et al., 2017] [Bei et al., 2020]…
There is a heterogeneous resource that contains both good parts and bad parts, for example, a cake with some parts burnt, a land-estate with some parts heavily taxed, or a chore with some parts fun to do. The resource has to be divided fairly among $n$ agents with different preferences, each of whom has a personal value-density function on the resource. The value-density functions can accept any real value --- positive, negative or zero. Each agent should receive a connected piece and no agent should envy another agent. We prove that such a division exists for 3 agents and present preliminary …
We consider the classic problem of envy-free division of a heterogeneous good ("cake") among several agents. It is known that, when the allotted pieces must be connected, the problem cannot be solved by a finite algorithm for 3 or more agents. The impossibility result, however, assumes that the entire cake must be allocated. In this paper we replace the entire-allocation requirement with a weaker \emph{partial-proportionality} requirement: the piece given to each agent must be worth for it at least a certain positive fraction of the entire cake value. We prove that this version of the problem …
Classic cake-cutting algorithms enable people with different preferences to divide among them a heterogeneous resource (``cake''), such that the resulting division is fair according to each agent's individual preferences. However, these algorithms either ignore the geometry of the resource altogether, or assume it is one-dimensional. In practice, it is often required to divide multi-dimensional resources, such as land-estates or advertisement spaces in print or electronic media. In such cases, the geometric shape of the allotted piece is of crucial importance. For example, when building houses…
In this article we study a cake cutting problem. More precisely, we study symmetric fair division algorithms, that is to say we study algorithms where the order of the players do not influence the value obtained by each player. In the first part of the article, we give a symmetric and envy-free fair division algorithm. More precisely, we show how to get a symmetric and envy-free fair division algorithm from an envy-free division algorithm. In the second part, we give a proportional and symmetric fair division algorithm with a complexity in O(n 3) in the Robertson-Webb model of complexity. This…
A matching in a bipartite graph with parts X and Y is called envy-free if no unmatched vertex in X is a adjacent to a matched vertex in Y. Every perfect matching is envy-free, but envy-free matchings exist even when perfect matchings do not. We prove that every bipartite graph has a unique partition such that all envy-free matchings are contained in one of the partition sets. Using this structural theorem, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm for finding an envy-free matching of maximum cardinality. For edge-weighted bipartite graphs, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm for finding a maxi…
Nanyang Technological University（南洋理工大学）；University of Technology Sydney（悉尼科技大学）；The Chinese University of Hong Kong（香港中文大学）
We introduce a graphical framework for fair division in cake cutting, where comparisons between agents are limited by an underlying network structure. We generalize the classical fairness notions of envy-freeness and proportionality to this graphical setting. Given a simple undirected graph G, an allocation is envy-free on G if no agent envies any of her neighbor's share, and is proportional on G if every agent values her own share no less than the average among her neighbors, with respect to her own measure. These generalizations open new research directions in developing simple and efficient…
In many developing countries, the total electricity demand is larger than the limited generation capacity of power stations. Many countries adopt the common practice of routine load shedding - disconnecting entire regions from the power supply - to maintain a balance between demand and supply. Load shedding results in inflicting hardship and discomfort on households, which is even worse and hence unfair to those whose need for electricity is higher than that of others during load shedding hours. Recently, Oluwasuji et al. [2020] presented this problem and suggested several heuristic solutions.…
