A framework for electronic negotiations based on adjusted-winner mediation

The paper presents the design of a procedural framework for an electronic market mediation service based on the adjusted-winner procedure for fair division. The main benefit of applying this procedure is that mutually beneficial agreements can be reached with minimal effort by the negotiating agents. However, in an electronic market setting, the approach requires that certain conditions such as binding offers and mirroring utility functions be provided and additional adaptations be made. In addition to fulfilling these requirements, the proposed mediation service is integrated with a matchmaking facility which results in a platform for negotiation processes that supports the identification of agreements between market agents whose offers initially did not match.