Metric for Evaluating Negotiation Process in Automated Negotiation

Abstract

Given the growing interest in automated negotiation, the search for effective strategies has produced a variety of different negotiation agents[8]. The Automated Negotiating Agents Competition(ANAC) has been annually held since 2010. The ANAC is an international competition that challenges researchers to design the agents that are able to operate effectively in different kinds of scenarios. In this competition, researchers analyze the negotiation agents from the aspects of utility, social welfare, distance to Nash solution, distance to Pareto and so on. Most of the analyses are based on negotiation results. Actually, the negotiation process can affect the negotiation results. To reach an agreement, agents analyze bids opponents have proposed and use a threshold function to decide how to compromise, this will determine the negotiation results. In this paper, we will describe a method called “negotiating efficiency” to evaluate the negotiation process. We will also explain how the process can affect the result.