Towards argumentation-based contract negotiation

We present an argumentation-based approach to contract negotiation amongst agents. Contracts are simply viewed as abstract transactions of items between a buyer agent and a seller agent, characterised by a number of features. Agents are equipped with beliefs, goals, and preferences. Goals are classified as either structural or contractual. In order to agree on a contract, agents engage in a two-phase negotiation process: in the first phase, the buyer agent decides on (a selection of) items fulfilling its structural goals and preferences; in the second phase, the buyer agent decides on a subset of the items identified in the first phase fulfilling its contractual goals and preferences. The first phase is supported by argumentationbased decision making taking preferences into account. Keywords. Negotiation, Decision-making, Contracts

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: COMMA
• Authors: Phan Minh Dung, Phan Minh Thang, Francesca Toni
• Keywords: Applied Computing, Buyer Agent, COMMA 2008, Seller Agent, Two-phase Negotiation Process