Existence of Equilibrium Mechanisms in Generalized Principal-Agent Problems with Interacting Teams

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Authors: Brian Roberson
Cited by: 0

Abstract

We study incentive design when multiple principals simultaneously design mechanisms for their respective teams in environments with strategic spillovers. In this environment, each principal's set of incentive-compatible mechanisms--those that satisfy their own agents' incentive compatibility constraints--depends on the mechanisms offered by the other teams. Following a classic example by Myerson (1982), such games may lack equilibrium due to discontinuities in the correspondence of incentive-compatible mechanisms. We establish general conditions for equilibrium existence by introducing a novel approach that involves tracking both the outcome distributions along the truthful-obedient path and the sets of outcome distributions achievable through unilateral deviations, thereby providing a foundation for analyzing a wide range of multi-principal mechanism design with team production and agency problems.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Auction Theory and Applications Game Theory and Applications Game Theory and Voting Systems

Publication details

Journal / source
arXiv (Cornell University)
Publication date
23 February 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint