Fairness and Efficiency in Online Class Matching

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Hajiaghayi, MohammadTaghi, Jahan, Shayan Chashm, Sharifi, Mohammad, Shin, Suho, Springer, Max
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Hajiaghayi, MohammadTaghi
Jahan, Shayan Chashm
Sharifi, Mohammad
Shin, Suho
Springer, Max
author_facet Hajiaghayi, MohammadTaghi
Jahan, Shayan Chashm
Sharifi, Mohammad
Shin, Suho
Springer, Max
contents The online bipartite matching problem, extensively studied in the literature, deals with the allocation of online arriving vertices (items) to a predetermined set of offline vertices (agents). However, little attention has been given to the concept of class fairness, where agents are categorized into different classes, and the matching algorithm must ensure equitable distribution across these classes. We here focus on randomized algorithms for the fair matching of indivisible items, subject to various definitions of fairness. Our main contribution is the first (randomized) non-wasteful algorithm that simultaneously achieves a $1/2$ approximation to class envy-freeness (CEF) while simultaneously ensuring an equivalent approximation to the class proportionality (CPROP) and utilitarian social welfare (USW) objectives. We supplement this result by demonstrating that no non-wasteful algorithm can achieve an $α$-CEF guarantee for $α> 0.761$. In a similar vein, we provide a novel input instance for deterministic divisible matching that demonstrates a nearly tight CEF approximation. Lastly, we define the ``price of fairness,'' which represents the trade-off between optimal and fair matching. We demonstrate that increasing the level of fairness in the approximation of the solution leads to a decrease in the objective of maximizing USW, following an inverse proportionality relationship.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_19163
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Fairness and Efficiency in Online Class Matching
Hajiaghayi, MohammadTaghi
Jahan, Shayan Chashm
Sharifi, Mohammad
Shin, Suho
Springer, Max
Computer Science and Game Theory
Data Structures and Algorithms
The online bipartite matching problem, extensively studied in the literature, deals with the allocation of online arriving vertices (items) to a predetermined set of offline vertices (agents). However, little attention has been given to the concept of class fairness, where agents are categorized into different classes, and the matching algorithm must ensure equitable distribution across these classes. We here focus on randomized algorithms for the fair matching of indivisible items, subject to various definitions of fairness. Our main contribution is the first (randomized) non-wasteful algorithm that simultaneously achieves a $1/2$ approximation to class envy-freeness (CEF) while simultaneously ensuring an equivalent approximation to the class proportionality (CPROP) and utilitarian social welfare (USW) objectives. We supplement this result by demonstrating that no non-wasteful algorithm can achieve an $α$-CEF guarantee for $α> 0.761$. In a similar vein, we provide a novel input instance for deterministic divisible matching that demonstrates a nearly tight CEF approximation. Lastly, we define the ``price of fairness,'' which represents the trade-off between optimal and fair matching. We demonstrate that increasing the level of fairness in the approximation of the solution leads to a decrease in the objective of maximizing USW, following an inverse proportionality relationship.
title Fairness and Efficiency in Online Class Matching
topic Computer Science and Game Theory
Data Structures and Algorithms
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.19163