On interest-based negotiation

Abstract

Negotiation is essential in settings where computational agents have conflicting interests and a desire to cooperate. Mechanisms in which agents exchange potential agreements according to various rules of interaction have become very popular in recent years as evident, for example, in the auction and mechanism design community. These can be seen as models of negotiation in which participants focus on their positions. It is argued, however, that if agents focus instead on the interests behind their positions, they may increase the likelihood and quality of an agreement. In order to achieve that, agents need to argue over each others' goals and beliefs during the process of negotiation. In thi..