Domain-Independent eNegotiation Design: Prospects, Methods, and Challenges

Designing electronic markets is still a rather intricate process. eNegotiation and thereby trading rules embody the core of the institution ”electronic market”. Although success or failure of electronic markets is strongly influenced by the design of the trading rules the design process currently constitutes a trial-and-error game. It is only partly guided by theory and by all available evidence, but it also uses ad-hoc methods to resolve issues about which theory is silent. Consequently, this paper suggests a conceptual framework for domain-independent eNegotiation design. The core of the framework is described by an expertise model which divides knowledge into three categories: domain, task and inference knowledge. The main contribution of this expertise model is twofold. Firstly, it can guide the further acquisition of knowledge. Secondly, a knowledge based system that could be built upon this model renders reproducible designs. In case the expertise model is sufficiently well formed the system can be used to perform if not the entire design process at least the step of preanalysis. This developed expertise model is deemed promising to turn the trial-and-error game of market design from a question of arts more to an engineering approach.