Séminaire GREDEG : Francis BLOCH (Paris School of Economics)

Publié le 5 juin 2024 Mis à jour le 3 février 2025
Date(s)

le 27 juin 2024

Lieu(x)
Salle PICASSO

GREDEG


More about Francis Bloch

Title: Task allocations in networks
(avec L. Hartmann, L Melino et D. Persitz)

Abstract:
We study dynamic task allocation when there is a fixed bipartite network associating workers to tasks. We analyze two approaches: centralized and decentralized. First, we study the optimal policy of a planner whose objective is to minimize the expected time of completion of all tasks. Second, we analyse a game played by workers who independently choose their tasks and are rewarded each time they complete a task. We characterize networks for which the planner’s and workers’ policies are simple. When policies are simple the planner prefers the workers to start with the hardest tasks, whereas workers always prefer to start with easier tasks. We show that the two policies only coincide when the bipartite network satisfies a strong symmetry condition. Differential rewards can be used to implement the planner’s optimal task allocation and we show that non- contingent rewards, which are independent of the set of remaining tasks, can be used as long as there is no task that a single agent can complete.
 
Date(s)
Le 27 juin 2024 14:00 - 15:30