IIASA RepositoryOn Optimal Allocation of Indivisibles Under UncertaintyV.I.NorkinauthorY.M.ErmolievauthorA.RuszczynskiauthorThe optimal use of indivisible resources is often the central issue in the economy and management. One of the main difficulties is the discontinuous nature of the resulting resource allocation problems which may lead to the failure of competitive market allocation mechanisms (unless we agree to "divide" the indivisibles in some indirect way). The problem becomes even more acute when uncertainty of the outcomes of decisions is present. In this paper we formalize the problem as a stochastic optimization problem involving discrete decision variables and uncertainties. By using some concrete examples, we illustrate how some problems of "dividing indivisibles" under uncertainty can be formalized in such terms. Next, we develop a general methodology to solve such problems based on the concept of the branch and bound method. The main idea of the approach is to process large collections of possible solutions and to devote more attention to the most promising groups. By gathering more information to reduce the uncertainty and by specializing the solution the optimal decision can be found.1994-04WP-94-021Monograph

For work being deposited by its own author: In self-archiving this collection of files and associated bibliographic metadata, I grant IIASA Repository the right to store them and to make them permanently available publicly for free on-line. I declare that this material is my own intellectual property and I understand that IIASA Repository does not assume any responsibility if there is any breach of copyright in distributing these files or metadata. (All authors are urged to prominently assert their copyright on the title page of their work.)

For work being deposited by someone other than its author: I hereby declare that the collection of files and associated bibliographic metadata that I am archiving at IIASA Repository) is in the public domain. If this is not the case, I accept full responsibility for any breach of copyright that distributing these files or metadata may entail.

Clicking on the deposit button indicates your agreement to these terms.