Efficient (Re-)Scheduling : An Auction Approach

This paper considers one-sided scheduling problems, where a schedule of service is arranged at one location, without regard to other schedules. Typically, such scheduling problems are handled on a first-come-first-serve basis, which is grossly inefficient. The present paper proposes a scheduling mechanism that is a non-standard auction, in which the allocation is ruled by evaluating combinations of bids. The proposed mechanism implements the efficient allocation in dominant strategies and is deficit-free. Since that mechanism is suitable for the scheduling problems at sea-ports, loading or unloading at sea-ports is used as an illustration