TY - JOUR
T1 - Divisor-based biproportional apportionment in electoral systems
T2 - a real-life benchmark study
AU - Maier, Sebastian
AU - Zachariassen, Petur
AU - Zachariasen, Martin
PY - 2010/2
Y1 - 2010/2
N2 - Biproportional apportionment methods provide two-way proportionality in electoral systems where the electoral region is subdivided into electoral districts. The problem is to assign integral values to the elements of a matrix that are proportional to a given input matrix, and such that a set of row- and column-sum requirements are fulfilled. In a divisor-based method for biproportional apportionment, the problem is solved by computing appropriate row and column divisors, and by rounding the quotients. We present a comprehensive experimental evaluation of divisor-based biproportional apportionment in an electoral system context. By performing experiments on real-life benchmark instances (election data with multimember districts), we evaluate the general quality of divisor-based apportionments with respect to, e.g., deviation from quota, reversal orderings, and occurrences of ties. For example, we studied the frequency in which a party with a higher vote count in a district ended up with fewer seats in that district.
AB - Biproportional apportionment methods provide two-way proportionality in electoral systems where the electoral region is subdivided into electoral districts. The problem is to assign integral values to the elements of a matrix that are proportional to a given input matrix, and such that a set of row- and column-sum requirements are fulfilled. In a divisor-based method for biproportional apportionment, the problem is solved by computing appropriate row and column divisors, and by rounding the quotients. We present a comprehensive experimental evaluation of divisor-based biproportional apportionment in an electoral system context. By performing experiments on real-life benchmark instances (election data with multimember districts), we evaluate the general quality of divisor-based apportionments with respect to, e.g., deviation from quota, reversal orderings, and occurrences of ties. For example, we studied the frequency in which a party with a higher vote count in a district ended up with fewer seats in that district.
U2 - 10.1287/mnsc.1090.1118
DO - 10.1287/mnsc.1090.1118
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0025-1909
VL - 56
SP - 373
EP - 387
JO - Management Science
JF - Management Science
IS - 2
ER -