In
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...
, resource allocation is the assignment of available
resources to various uses. In the context of an entire economy, resources can be allocated by various means, such as
markets, or
planning.
In
project management
Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...
, resource allocation or
resource management is the scheduling of activities and the resources required by those activities while taking into consideration both the resource availability and the project time.
Economics
In
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...
, the field of
public finance
Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. It is the branch of economics that assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achi ...
deals with three broad areas:
macroeconomic stabilization, the
distribution of income and wealth, and the allocation of resources. Much of the study of the allocation of resources is devoted to finding the conditions under which particular mechanisms of resource allocation lead to
Pareto efficient outcomes, in which no party's situation can be improved without hurting that of another party.
Strategic planning
In
strategic planning, resource allocation is a
plan for using available
resources, for example
human resources, especially in the near term, to achieve goals for the future. It is the process of allocating scarce resources among the various
projects or business units.
There are a number of approaches to solving resource allocation problems e.g. resources can be allocated using a manual approach, an algorithmic approach (see below), or a combination of both.
There may be contingency mechanisms such as a priority ranking of items excluded from the plan, showing which items to fund if more resources should become available and a priority ranking of some items included in the plan, showing which items should be sacrificed if total funding must be reduced.
Algorithms
Resource allocation may be decided by using
computer programs
A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to execute. Computer programs are one component of software, which also includes documentation and other intangible components.
A computer progra ...
applied to a specific domain to automatically and dynamically distribute resources to applicants.
This is especially common in electronic devices dedicated to routing and communication. For example, channel allocation in
wireless
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The mos ...
communication may be decided by a
base transceiver station using an appropriate
algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...
.
One class of resource whereby applicants bid for the best resource(s) according to their balance of "money", as in an
online auction business model (see also
auction theory).
In one paper on
CPU
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...
time slice allocation
an auction algorithm is compared to
proportional share scheduling.
See also
*
*
*
Corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
*
*
Fair division
*
*
*
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Resource Allocation
Resources
Strategic management
Schedule (project management)
Economic planning
Public finance
Contexts for auctions