In 1950, Nash's seminal paper introduced the axiomatic approach to the analysis of bargaining situations. Since then, many bargaining solutions have appeared and been axiomatically analyzed. The fact that agents, when face a bargaining problem, can come up with different solution concepts (that...

A minimum cost spanning tree (mcst) problem analyzes the way to effciently connect individuals to a source when they are located at different places. Once the effcient tree is obtained, the question on how allocating the total cost among the involved agents defines, in a natural way, a...

Is it important to negotiate on proportions rather than on numbers? To answer this question, we analyze the behavior of well-known bargaining solutions and the claims rules they induce when they are applied to a "proportionally transformed" bargaining set SP so-called bargaining-in-proportions...

The solution for the contested garment problem, proposed in the Babylonic Talmud, suggests that each agent should receive at least some part of the resources whenever the claim exceeds the available amount. In this context, we propose a new method to define lower bounds on awards, an idea that...

Mediation is a dispute resolution process whereby agents reach a mutually acceptable agreement among different proposals that satisfy a set of principles. This paper provides a natural way of coming to such agreements in claims problems. In our approach, mediation combines (i) a set of fair...

In distribution problems, and specifically in bankruptcy issues, the Proportional (P) and the Egalitarian (EA) divisions are two of the most popular ways to resolve the conflict. Nonetheless, when using the egalitarian division, agents may receive more than her claim. We propose a compromise...

In a bankruptcy situation individuals are not equally affected since each one has its own specific characteristics. These aspects cannot be ignored and may justify an allocation bias in favor of or against some individuals. This paper develops a theory of differentiation in claims problems that...

Agents involved in a conflicting claims problem may be concerned with the proportion of their claims that is satisfied, or with the total amount they get. In order to relate both perspectives, we associate to each conflicting claims problem a bargaining-in-proportions set. Then, we obtain a...