Welfare Approximation in Multilateral Trade

Abstract

We introduce the study of \emph{multilateral trade}: a mechanism-design problem in which a single potential trade involves $k$ agents and can be executed only if all $k$ agents agree to participate. The classical case $k=2$ is the well-studied bilateral trade problem, where a seller and a buyer with private values must decide whether to trade an item initially held by the seller. Existing extensions of bilateral trade have largely focused on markets with many buyers and many sellers, but where each realized transaction is still bilateral, requiring agreement only between the matched buyer and seller. Our formulation captures settings in which the trade itself requires joint participation, coupling the agents' incentives and creating new challenges. We study welfare approximation in this setting under incentive compatibility, individual rationality, and budget balance. We give a DSIC mechanism with approximation ratio $O(k^2)$, and a BIC mechanism with approximation ratio $\widetilde O(k^{3/2})$. We prove matching lower bounds up to polylogarithmic factors. Finally, we extend the model to an $\ell$-out-of-$k$ partial-agreement setting, where the trade may occur once at least $\ell$ agents participate. In this relaxed model, the welfare guarantees improve smoothly as $k-\ell$, the number of agents whose participation is not required, grows, and we obtain matching upper and lower bounds up to polylogarithmic factors.