@Article{walsh03a,
  author =	 {William E. Walsh and Michael P. Wellman},
  title =	 {Decentralized Supply Chain Formation: A Market
                  Protocol and Competetive Equilibrium Analysis},
  journal =	 {Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research},
  year =	 2003,
  volume =	 19,
  pages =	 {515--567},
  abstract =	 {Supply chain formation is the process of determining
                  the structure and terms of exchange relationships
                  to enable a multilevel, multiagent production
                  activity. We present a simple model of supply
                  chains, highlighting two characteristic features:
                  hierarchical subtask decomposition, and resource
                  contention. To decentralize the formation process,
                  we introduce a market price system over the
                  resources produced along the chain. In a competitive
                  equilibrium for this system, agents choose locally
                  optimal allocations with respect to prices, and
                  outcomes are optimal overall. To determine prices,
                  we define a market protocol based on distributed,
                  progressive auctions, and myopic, non-strategic
                  agent bidding policies. In the presence of resource
                  contention, this protocol produces better solutions
                  than the greedy protocols common in the artificial
                  intelligence and multiagent systems
                  literature. The protocol often converges to
                  high-value supply chains, and when competitive
                  equilibria exist, typically to approximate
                  competitive equilibria. However, complementarities
                  in agent production technologies can cause the
                  protocol to wastefully allocate inputs to agents
                  that do not produce their outputs. A subsequent
                  decommitment phase recovers a significant fraction of
                  the lost surplus.},
  cluster = 	 {7310773145196508810},
  url = 	 {http://jmvidal.cse.sc.edu/library/walsh03a.pdf}
}