A cooperative approach to sequencing and connection problems

There are many economic settings in which a group of agents wishes to undertake a joint enterprise in order to save costs. The success of such enterprises often relies on agreements on how to share the cost savings generated. The central issue of this monograph is to address cost allocation problems arising from sequencing problems and connection problems. Sequencing problems consider a group of agents who are waiting to be served in a facility and focuses on the problem of the allocation of the cost savings that can be obtained by switching from an initial service order to an optimal one. Connection problems consider the cost allocation problems arising from situations in which a group of agents wishes to collaborate and jointly invest in the construction or the maintenance of a common network. The methods we use in this monograph to analyze the cost allocation problems arising from sequencing and connection problems mainly rely on models of cooperative transferable utility games.