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The Norm Implementation Problem in Normative Multi-Agent Systems

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Specification and Verification of Multi-agent Systems

Abstract

The norm implementation problem consists in how to see to it that the agents in a system comply with the norms specified for that system by the system designer. It is part of the more general problem of how to synthesize or create norms for multi-agent systems, by, for example, highlighting the choice between regimentation and enforcement, or the punishment associated with a norm violation. In this paper we discuss how various ways to implement norms in a multi-agent system can be distinguished in a formal game-theoretic framework. In particular, we show how different types of norm implementation can all be uniformly specified and verified as types of transformations of extensive games. We introduce the notion of retarded preconditions to implement norms, and we illustrate the framework and the various ways to implement norms in the blocks world environment.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the reviewers of the volume for their helpful comments. Davide Grossi wishes to acknowledge support by Ministère de la Culture, de L’Enseignement Supèrieur et de la Recherche, Grand-Duchè de Luxembourg (grant BFR07/123) and by Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (VENI grant 639.021.816).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ILLC University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    D. Grossi

  2. Computer Science King’s College London, London, UK

    D. Gabbay

  3. ICR University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, UK

    D. Gabbay & L. van der Torre

Authors
  1. D. Grossi
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  2. D. Gabbay
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  3. L. van der Torre
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Correspondence to D. Grossi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Information & Computing Sciences, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, Utrecht, 3584 CH, Netherlands

    Mehdi Dastani

  2. Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 4, Delft, 2628 CD, Netherlands

    Koen V. Hindriks

  3. Dept. Information & Computer Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

    John-Jules Charles Meyer

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Grossi, D., Gabbay, D., van der Torre, L. (2010). The Norm Implementation Problem in Normative Multi-Agent Systems. In: Dastani, M., Hindriks, K., Meyer, JJ. (eds) Specification and Verification of Multi-agent Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6984-2_7

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