Properties of discrete cake-cutting procedures that use a minimal number of cuts (n – 1 if there are n players) are analyzed. None is always envy-free or efficient, but divideand-conquer (D&C) minimizes the maximum number of players that any single player may envy. It works by asking n ≥ 2 players successively to place marks on a cake that divide it into equal or approximately equal halves, the...

We develop the rst explicit procedures for exact envy-free chore division for 4 or more players. We also give a simple 3-person procedure. Our 4-person moving-knife scheme and n-person discrete algorithm are accomplished by exploiting a notion of \irrevocable advantage" for chores, and are motivated by similar solutions for cake-cutting by Brams, Taylor, and Zwicker. We discuss the diierences b...

It is well-known that the central limit theorem holds for partial sums of a stationary sequence (Xi) of m-dependent random variables with finite variance; however, the limit may be degenerate with variance 0 even if Var(Xi) 6= 0. We show that this happens only in the case when Xi − EXi = Yi − Yi−1 for an (m − 1)-dependent stationary sequence (Yi) with finite variance (a result implicit in earli...

The problem of fairly dividing a cake (as a metaphor for a heterogeneous divisible good) has been the subject of much interest since the 1940’s, and is of importance in multiagent resource allocation. Two fairness criteria are usually considered: proportionality, in the sense that each of the n agents receives at least 1/n of the cake; and the stronger property of envy-freeness, namely that eac...

There is a heterogeneous resource that contains both good parts and bad parts, for example, a cake with some parts burnt, a land-estate with some parts heavily taxed, or a chore with some parts fun to do. The resource has to be divided fairly among n agents, each of whom has a personal value-density function on the resource. The value-density functions can accept any real value positive or nega...

If Ill' ... , ~tn are non-atomic probability measures on the same measurable space (S, ff"), then there is an ff"-measurable partition {AJ7= 1 of S so that IlJAi)~(n-l+m)-l for all i=I, ... ,n, where m=l l i 01 lli l l is the total mass of the largest measure dominated by each of the Il/s; moreover, this bound is attained for all n ~ 1 and all m in [0,1]. This result is an analog of the bound (...

This paper discusses cake-cutting protocols when the cake is a heterogeneous good, represented by an interval on the real line. We propose a new desirable property, the meta-envy-freeness of cake-cutting, which has not been formally considered before. Meta-envy-free means there is no envy on role assignments, that is, no party wants to exchange his/her role in the protocol with the one of any o...

This paper discusses cake-cutting protocols when the cake is a heterogeneous good that is represented by an interval in the real line. We propose a new desirable property, the meta-envy-freeness of cake-cutting, which has not been formally considered before. Though envy-freeness was considered to be one of the most important desirable properties, envy-freeness does not prevent envy about role a...