Mechanisms

Several agents want the same delivery slot. Who gets it: the highest bidder, the first to arrive, or the person with the most urgent need? A mechanism is the arrangement that turns those competing claims into a decision. Its rules determine what participants can offer, what they pay, and who can challenge the result.

This theme brings together ownership, taxation, auctions, bargaining and stewardship. What rights change hands when someone sells an agent? Could a tax on access discourage hoarding? Could agents negotiate a useful agreement on our behalf, and when would we still need to approve it?

A steward is a person or organisation entrusted to look after a shared resource. In an agent network, that might mean managing a queue, checking delegated permissions, or hearing a complaint. Appointing a steward raises its own questions: who gives them authority, how are their decisions reviewed, and how can they be replaced?

Start with Taxing Agents for ownership and transferable rights, A Coasean Democracy for bargaining and representation, and Governing the Agent Commons for shared access. Auctions are a further experiment to develop: compare allocation by bids with quotas and assessed need, and examine who each arrangement leaves out.