Allocation rules for land division

This paper studies the classical land division problem formalized by Steinhaus [27] in a multi-profile context. We propose a notion of an allocation rule for this setting. We discuss several examples of rules and properties they may satisfy. Central among these properties is division independence: a parcel may be partitioned into smaller parcels, these smaller parcels allocated according to the rule, leaving a recommended allocation for the original parcel. In conjunction with two other normative properties, division independence is shown to imply the principle of utilitarianism. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C71, D63, D71 ∗Assistant Professor of Economics, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Mail Code 228-77, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. Email: [email protected]. Phone: (626) 395-3559. I would like to thank Marcus Berliant, John Duggan, Larry Epstein, and William Thomson for detailed comments and suggestions. I would also especially like to thank three anonymous referees whose valuable observations led to corrections and improvements that greatly improved this paper. All errors are my own.