A characterization of the position value*

We characterize the position value for arbitrary communication situations. The two properties involved in the characterization are component efficiency, which is standard, and balanced link contributions, which is in the same spirit as balanced contributions. Since the Myerson value can be characterized by component efficiency and balanced contributions a comparison between the two allocation rules based on characterizing properties can be made. The author thanks Anne van den Nouweland, two anonymous referees, an associate editor and the editor for useful suggestions and comments.