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arXiv · 1808.06320

Characterization of Group-Strategyproof Mechanisms for Facility Location in Strictly Convex Space

Pingzhong Tang·Dingli Yu·Shengyu Zhao
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Abstract

We characterize the class of group-strategyproof mechanisms for the single facility location game in any unconstrained strictly convex space. A mechanism is \emph{group-strategyproof}, if no group of agents can misreport so that all its members are \emph{strictly} better off. A strictly convex space is a normed vector space where $\|x+y\|<2$ holds for any pair of different unit vectors $x \neq y$, e.g., any $L_p$ space with $p\in (1,\infty)$. We show that any deterministic, unanimous, group-strategyproof mechanism must be dictatorial, and that any randomized, unanimous, translation-invariant, group-strategyproof mechanism must be \emph{2-dictatorial}. Here a randomized mechanism is 2-dictatorial if the lottery output of the mechanism must be distributed on the line segment between two dictators' inputs. A mechanism is translation-invariant if the output of the mechanism follows the same translation of the input. Our characterization directly implies that any (randomized) translation-invariant approximation algorithm satisfying the group-strategyproofness property has a lower bound of $2$-approximation for maximum cost (whenever $n \geq 3$), and $n/2 - 1$ for social cost. We also find an algorithm that $2$-approximates the maximum cost and $n/2$-approximates the social cost, proving the bounds to be (almost) tight.

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Pingzhong Tang, Dingli Yu, Shengyu Zhao. 2018-08-20. Characterization of Group-Strategyproof Mechanisms for Facility Location in Strictly Convex Space. https://doi.org/10.1145/3391403.3399471

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