Gale’s top trading cycles algorithm

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Gale’s top trading cycles algorithm is a mechanism in matching theory that produces efficient and strategy-proof allocations of indivisible goods, such as in housing markets, by iteratively forming and executing trading cycles among participants.

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Predicate Object
instanceOf allocation mechanism
matching algorithm
mechanism in matching theory
algorithmType graph-based algorithm
iterative algorithm
appliesTo allocation of indivisible goods
house allocation problems
housing markets
kidney exchange models
school choice problems
assumes agents have complete and transitive preferences
preferences are strict in the basic formulation
contrastWith deferred acceptance algorithm NERFINISHED
field market design
matching theory
microeconomics
goal ensure strategy-proofness for participants
produce efficient allocations of indivisible goods
guarantees existence of an allocation in the core of the housing market game
input agents’ strict preference orderings over goods
finite set of agents
finite set of indivisible goods
initial endowment of goods to agents
namedAfter David Gale NERFINISHED
output allocation of goods to agents
outputProperty no agent can be made better off without making another worse off
no coalition of agents can reassign their initial endowments to make all its members strictly better off
property Pareto efficient
core-selecting in housing markets with initial endowments
individually rational given initial endowments
strategy-proof for agents
relatedTo Gale–Shapley deferred acceptance algorithm NERFINISHED
Shapley–Scarf housing market model NERFINISHED
core of a cooperative game
top trading cycles and chains mechanisms
step agents and goods in executed cycles are removed from the market
all agents in a cycle are assigned the good they point to
at least one cycle of agents and goods is identified in the graph
directed graph of agents and goods is formed
each agent points to her most-preferred available good
each good points to its current owner
procedure repeats until no agents or goods remain
usedIn design of allocation mechanisms without monetary transfers
public policy applications in matching markets
theoretical analysis of housing markets
usesConcept directed cycles
trading cycles

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David Gale notableWork Gale’s top trading cycles algorithm