Multi-attribute auctions for electronic procurement

Auctions are a fundamental mechanism to automate negotiations in electronic commerce. We consider a class of multi-lateral negotiation situations, which requires negotiation on multiple attributes of a deal. These situations are typical for corporate procurement. Current auction implementations do not support these negotiations adequately. In the paper we propose multi-attribute auctions, an economic mechanism, which supports negotiation on multiple attributes of a deal. In this approach we combine decision analysis techniques and single-sided auction mechanisms to allocate tasks. We outline the theoretical questions associated with multiattribute auctions and describe an implementation of the proposed mechanism. In this context, we tackle several important issues concerning the design of electronic market places.