Abstract
We consider a model of nomadic agents exploring and competing for time-varying location-specific resources, arising in crowdsourced transportation services, online communities, and in traditional location-based economic activity. This model comprises a group of agents, and a set of locations each endowed with a dynamic stochastic resource process. Each agent derives a periodic reward determined by the overall resource level at her location, and the number of other agents there. Each agent is strategic and free to move between locations, and at each time decides whether to stay at the same node or switch to another one. We study the equilibrium behavior of the agents as a function of dynamics of the stochastic resource process and the nature of the externality each agent imposes on others at the same location. In the asymptotic limit with the number of agents and locations increasing proportionally, we show that an equilibrium exists and has a threshold structure, where each agent decides to switch to a different location based only on their current location's resource level and the number of other agents at that location. This result provides insight into how system structure affects the agents' collective ability to explore their domain to find and effectively utilize resourcerich areas. It also allows assessing the impact of changing the reward structure through penalties or subsidies.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | 25th International World Wide Web Conference, WWW 2016 |
Publisher | International World Wide Web Conferences Steering Committee |
Pages | 177-187 |
Number of pages | 11 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781450341431 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2016 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | 25th International World Wide Web Conference, WWW 2016 - Montreal, Canada Duration: Apr 11 2016 → Apr 15 2016 |
Publication series
Name | 25th International World Wide Web Conference, WWW 2016 |
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Conference
Conference | 25th International World Wide Web Conference, WWW 2016 |
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Country/Territory | Canada |
City | Montreal |
Period | 4/11/16 → 4/15/16 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:NSF CAREER CMMI-1254298, NSF CMMI-1536895, NSF IIS-1247696, AFOSR FA9550-12-1-0200, AFOSR FA9550-15-1-0038.
Keywords
- Exploration
- Mean Field Equilibrium
- Resource Sharing