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On the structure of stable tournament solutions

Author

Listed:
  • Felix Brandt

    (Technical University of Munich)

  • Markus Brill

    (Oxford University)

  • Hans Georg Seedig

    (Technical University of Munich)

  • Warut Suksompong

    (Stanford University)

Abstract

A fundamental property of choice functions is stability, which, loosely speaking, prescribes that choice sets are invariant under adding and removing unchosen alternatives. We provide several structural insights that improve our understanding of stable choice functions. In particular, (1) we show that every stable choice function is generated by a unique simple choice function, which never excludes more than one alternative, (2) we completely characterize which simple choice functions give rise to stable choice functions, and (3) we prove a strong relationship between stability and a new property of tournament solutions called local reversal symmetry. Based on these findings, we provide the first concrete tournament—consisting of 24 alternatives—in which the tournament equilibrium set fails to be stable. Furthermore, we prove that there is no more discriminating stable tournament solution than the bipartisan set and that the bipartisan set is the unique most discriminating tournament solution which satisfies standard properties proposed in the literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Felix Brandt & Markus Brill & Hans Georg Seedig & Warut Suksompong, 2018. "On the structure of stable tournament solutions," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 65(2), pages 483-507, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:65:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s00199-016-1024-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s00199-016-1024-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hudry, Olivier, 2009. "A survey on the complexity of tournament solutions," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 292-303, May.
    2. Dutta, Bhaskar, 1988. "Covering sets and a new condorcet choice correspondence," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 63-80, February.
    3. Monjardet, B., 2008. "Statement of precedence and a comment on IIA terminology," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 736-738, March.
    4. Brandt, Felix, 2011. "Minimal stable sets in tournaments," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 146(4), pages 1481-1499, July.
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    6. Felix Brandt, 2015. "Set-monotonicity implies Kelly-strategyproofness," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 45(4), pages 793-804, December.
    7. Yusufcan Masatlioglu & Daisuke Nakajima & Erkut Y. Ozbay, 2012. "Revealed Attention," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2183-2205, August.
    8. Alex Scott & Mark Fey, 2012. "The minimal covering set in large tournaments," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 38(1), pages 1-9, January.
    9. Felix Brandt & Markus Brill & Felix Fischer & Paul Harrenstein, 2014. "Minimal retentive sets in tournaments," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 42(3), pages 551-574, March.
    10. Felix Brandt & Hans Georg Seedig, 2016. "On the Discriminative Power of Tournament Solutions," Operations Research Proceedings, in: Marco Lübbecke & Arie Koster & Peter Letmathe & Reinhard Madlener & Britta Peis & Grit Walther (ed.), Operations Research Proceedings 2014, edition 1, pages 53-58, Springer.
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    12. Brandt, Felix & Harrenstein, Paul, 2011. "Set-rationalizable choice and self-stability," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 146(4), pages 1721-1731, July.
    13. Mark Fey, 2008. "Choosing from a large tournament," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 31(2), pages 301-309, August.
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    15. Laffond G. & Laslier J. F. & Le Breton M., 1993. "The Bipartisan Set of a Tournament Game," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 182-201, January.
    16. Felix Brandt & Maria Chudnovsky & Ilhee Kim & Gaku Liu & Sergey Norin & Alex Scott & Paul Seymour & Stephan Thomassé, 2013. "A counterexample to a conjecture of Schwartz," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 40(3), pages 739-743, March.
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    18. Nicolas Houy, 2009. "Still more on the Tournament Equilibrium Set," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 32(1), pages 93-99, January.
    19. Felix Brandt & Felix Fischer & Paul Harrenstein & Maximilian Mair, 2010. "A computational analysis of the tournament equilibrium set," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 34(4), pages 597-609, April.
    20. Florian Brandl & Felix Brandt & Hans Georg Seedig, 2016. "Consistent Probabilistic Social Choice," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 1839-1880, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Brandt, Felix & Lederer, Patrick, 2023. "Characterizing the top cycle via strategyproofness," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 18(2), May.
    2. Felix Brandt & Markus Brill & Paul Harrenstein, 2018. "Extending tournament solutions," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 51(2), pages 193-222, August.
    3. Wesley H. Holliday & Eric Pacuit, 2023. "Split Cycle: a new Condorcet-consistent voting method independent of clones and immune to spoilers," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 197(1), pages 1-62, October.
    4. Florian Brandl & Felix Brandt, 2020. "Arrovian Aggregation of Convex Preferences," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 799-844, March.
    5. Vicki Knoblauch, 2020. "Von Neumann–Morgenstern stable set rationalization of choice functions," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 89(3), pages 369-381, October.
    6. Florian Brandl & Felix Brandt & Christian Stricker, 2022. "An analytical and experimental comparison of maximal lottery schemes," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 58(1), pages 5-38, January.
    7. Christian Saile & Warut Suksompong, 2020. "Robust bounds on choosing from large tournaments," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 54(1), pages 87-110, January.
    8. Felix Brandt & Patrick Lederer, 2021. "Characterizing the Top Cycle via Strategyproofness," Papers 2108.04622, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2023.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Choice consistency; Tournament solutions; Bipartisan set; Tournament equilibrium set;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • C6 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling

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