Discrete-time strategic job arrivals to a single machine with waiting and lateness penalties

Abstract

A single machine processes a random number of identical jobs on a first-come first-served (FCFS) basis. Processing times are independent and identically distributed with a general integral distribution. Each job is held by a strategic player who needs to choose a time slot to arrive at. The individual objective is to reduce the sum of two types of linear in time costs: lateness and waiting. The resulting decision making model is, then, a symmetric non-cooperative game. We derive a symmetric Nash equilibrium for this game, and discuss its structural properties.