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Testing substitutability

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  • Hatfield, John William
  • Immorlica, Nicole
  • Kominers, Scott Duke

Abstract

We provide an algorithm for testing the substitutability of a length-N preference relation over a set of contracts X in time O(|X|3⋅N3). Access to the preference relation is essential for this result: We show that a substitutability-testing algorithm with access only to an agentʼs choice function must make an expected number of queries exponential in |X|. An analogous result obtains when the agentʼs preferences are quasilinear in a numeraire and the algorithm only has access to the agentʼs underlying valuation function.

Suggested Citation

  • Hatfield, John William & Immorlica, Nicole & Kominers, Scott Duke, 2012. "Testing substitutability," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 639-645.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:75:y:2012:i:2:p:639-645
    DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2011.11.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John William Hatfield & Scott Duke Kominers & Alexandru Nichifor & Michael Ostrovsky & Alexander Westkamp, 2013. "Stability and Competitive Equilibrium in Trading Networks," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 121(5), pages 966-1005.
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    10. John William Hatfield & Scott Duke Kominers, 2012. "Matching in Networks with Bilateral Contracts," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 176-208, February.
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    13. Ning Sun & Zaifu Yang, 2009. "A Double-Track Adjustment Process for Discrete Markets With Substitutes and Complements," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 933-952, May.
    14. Alvin Roth, 2008. "Deferred acceptance algorithms: history, theory, practice, and open questions," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 36(3), pages 537-569, March.
    15. C. Nicholas McKinney & Muriel Niederle & Alvin E. Roth, 2005. "The Collapse of a Medical Labor Clearinghouse (and Why Such Failures Are Rare)," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 878-889, June.
    16. John William Hatfield & Paul R. Milgrom, 2005. "Matching with Contracts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 913-935, September.
    17. Michael Ostrovsky, 2008. "Stability in Supply Chain Networks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(3), pages 897-923, June.
    18. Hatfield, John William & Kojima, Fuhito, 2010. "Substitutes and stability for matching with contracts," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 145(5), pages 1704-1723, September.
    19. Roth, Alvin E, 1984. "Stability and Polarization of Interests in Job Matching," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(1), pages 47-57, January.
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    21. Kelso, Alexander S, Jr & Crawford, Vincent P, 1982. "Job Matching, Coalition Formation, and Gross Substitutes," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1483-1504, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ostrovsky, Michael & Paes Leme, Renato, 2015. "Gross substitutes and endowed assignment valuations," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 10(3), September.
    2. Cosmina Croitoru & Kurt Mehlhorn, 2018. "On testing substitutability," Papers 1805.07642, arXiv.org.
    3. Yang, Yi-You, 2020. "Rationalizable choice functions," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 120-126.
    4. Delacrétaz, David & Loertscher, Simon & Marx, Leslie M. & Wilkening, Tom, 2019. "Two-sided allocation problems, decomposability, and the impossibility of efficient trade," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 416-454.
    5. Kadam, Sangram Vilasrao, 2017. "Unilateral substitutability implies substitutable completability in many-to-one matching with contracts," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 56-68.
    6. Aziz, Haris & Brill, Markus & Harrenstein, Paul, 2013. "Testing substitutability of weak preferences," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 91-94.
    7. Tamás Fleiner & Zsuzsanna Jankó & Ildikó Schlotter & Alexander Teytelboym, 2023. "Complexity of stability in trading networks," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 52(3), pages 629-648, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Substitutability; Matching; Communication complexity; Preference elicitation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C62 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Existence and Stability Conditions of Equilibrium
    • C78 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory

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