The biodegradation characteristics of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) by three freshwater unicellular organisms were investigated in this study. The findings revealed that all the organisms were capable of metabolizing DMP; among them, Cyanothece sp. PCC7822 achieved the highest degradation efficiency. Lower concentration of DMP supported the growth of the Cyanobacteria; however, with the increase of ...

BACKGROUND Managed competition was introduced into the health care system in several countries including the Netherlands, although effects of competition of both providers and health insurers on the price of health care are inconclusive. We investigated the association between competition of both providers (care groups) and health insurers and the price of disease management programmes (DMPs). ...

This paper shows how standard arguments supporting the imposition of price caps break down in the presence of demand uncertainty. In particular, though in the deterministic case the introduction or lowering of a price cap (above marginal cost) results in increased production, increased total welfare, decreased prices, and increased consumer welfare, we show that all of the above comparative sta...

The multiple payments settlement systems available in the United States differ on several dimensions. The Fedwire Funds Service, a utility that operates a U.S. large-value paymentssettlement service, offers the fastest speed of settlement. Recognizing that payments differ in the urgency with which they need to be settled, Fedwire offers banks a decreasing block-price schedule. This approach all...

Theoretical models of the markup-inflation relationship focus on the markup of price on marginal costs in contrast with empirical models that typically focus on the markup on unit costs. Using nearly 50 years of quarterly United States data we identify a negative long-run relationship between inflation and the markup of price on unit costs on the one hand and with the markup on marginal costs o...

Historically, water allocation focused on quantities demanded by consumptive uses. As quantity demand grows, efficient allocation among consumptive and nonconsumptive uses becomes more critical. This hedonic approach provides information regarding recreational and aesthetic (RA) value for a central Texas lake. The model indicates several statistically significant RA characteristics of housing; ...

In the first chapter, I investigate a merger between price-setting newsvendors in an oligopolistic market. It is well-known that inventory pooling can greatly reduce inventory costs in a centralized distribution system because it helps reduce aggregate demand uncertainty. Although such statistical economies of scale are important benefits of a retail merger, the extant literature models cost sa...

This study uses an agent-based test bed (“AMES”) to investigate separation and volatility of locational marginal prices (LMPs) in an ISO-managed restructured wholesale power market operating over an AC transmission grid. Particular attention is focused on the dynamic and cross-sectional response of LMPs to systematic changes in demand-bid price sensitivities and supply-offer price cap levels un...

We study in this paper a social welfare optimal congestionpricing scheme for multiclass queuing services which can be applied to telecommunication networks. Most of the literature has focused on the marginal price. Unfortunately, it does not share the total cost among the different classes. We investigate here an optimal Aumann-Shapley congestionprice which verifies this property. We extend the...