A minimum cost spanning tree problem analyzes the way to efficiently connect agents to a source when they are located at different places. Once the efficient tree is obtained, the total cost should be allocated among the involved agents in a fair and stable manner. It is well known that there...

A new voting rule for electing committees is described. Specifically, we use approval balloting and propose a voting procedure guaranteeing that if a committee representing (in a determined proportion) all voters exists, then the selected committee has to represent all voters at least in the...

In this paper we consider convex combinations of matrices that arise in the study of distribution problems and analyse the properties of Perron's eigenvalue, and its associated positive eigenvector. We prove that the components in the (normalized) associated positive eigenvector have a monotone...

In a distribution problem, and speci fically in bankruptcy issues, the Proportional (P) and the Egalitarian (EA) divisions are two of the most popular ways to resolve the conflict. The Constrained Equal Awards rule (CEA) is introduced in bankruptcy literature to ensure that no agent receives...

We s tudy minimum cost spanning tree problems for a given set of users connected to a source. We propose a rule of sharing such that each user may pay her cost for such a tree plus an additional amount to the others users . A reduction of her cost appears as a compensation from the other users....

If we analyze the notion of stability (von Neumann and Morgenstern, 1944) it seems a desirable property to be fulfilled by any choice function. Paradoxically, the usual Condorcet choice functions (maximal set, top cycle, uncovered set, minimal covering, ...) are not stable in the VNM sense. In...

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...

How should scholarships be distributed among the (public) higher education students? We raise this situation as a redistribution problem. Following the approach developed in Fleurbaey (1994) and Bossert (1995), redistribution should be based on the notion of solidarity and it reallocates...

Mediation is a dispute resolution process where agents reach a mutually acceptable agreement among prominent proposals. This paper provides a natural way of coming to this agreement in bankruptcy problems. The central fact is that such problems can be faced from two different (focal) points of...

We consider a cost sharing problem, where each individual is identi ed by a characteristic (a positive real number) ci: The two main positions on how to share a common cost M are the Egalitarian and the Proportional solutions. These solutions can be obtained as the Perron's eigenvectors (right...