Definition Additive Valuation
definition formalized

Additive Valuation

An additive valuation is the standard special case of indivisible valuations in which the value of a bundle is the sum of per-item weights: $$ v_i(S) = \sum_{g \in S} w_i(g), $$ with weights $w_i : G \to \mathbb{R}$.

In Lean: structure SocialChoice.FairDivision.Indivisible.AdditiveValuation N G with one field weight : N → G → ℝ.

Lift to abstract valuation

AdditiveValuation.toValuation lifts to a generic [[social_choice.fair_division.indivisible.valuation]]: $$ (w.\mathrm{toValuation}).\mathrm{val}\ i\ S = \sum_{g \in S} w.\mathrm{weight}\ i\ g. $$

Basic properties

Three structural lemmas at the additive layer:

  • toValuation_empty (@[simp]): $w.\mathrm{toValuation}.\mathrm{val}\ i\ \emptyset = 0$.

  • toValuation_union for disjoint bundles ($\mathrm{Disjoint}\ S\ T$, $[\mathrm{DecidableEq}\ G]$): $$ v(i, S \cup T) = v(i, S) + v(i, T). $$

  • toValuation_mono for nonnegative weights ($\forall i\,g,\ w(i, g) \ge 0$, $[\mathrm{DecidableEq}\ G]$): $$ T \subseteq S \;\Rightarrow\; v(i, T) \le v(i, S). $$

Why additivity matters

The implication chain ([[social_choice.fair_division.indivisible.ef_implies_proportional_additive]], [[social_choice.fair_division.indivisible.proportional_implies_mms_additive]]) needs additivity to convert a per-bundle inequality $v_i(B_j) \le v_i(A_i)$ into the total-value comparisons that proportionality and MMS demand. Monotone but non-additive valuations support EF → EFX but not EF → PROP. Additive valuations are the sweet spot for most positive results in the indivisible setting.

References

  • [AGT Chapter 11] Nisan, Roughgarden, Tardos, and Vazirani, Algorithmic Game Theory. Additive valuations.
  • Bouveret, Chevaleyre, and Maudet (2016). "Fair Allocation of Indivisible Goods", COMSOC Handbook Ch. 12.

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