The “transfer price rule”(TPR) defines a vertical price squeeze as an input price, output price combination set by a vertically-integrated firm monopoly producer of an essential input that would not allow the firm’s downstream unit to earn at least a normal rate of return on investment in the “as-if”case that it had to purchase the input at the price charged independent firms. In its 2009 linkL...

Program behavior may depend on parameters, which are either configured before compilation time, or provided at runtime, e.g., by sensors or other input devices. Parametric program analysis explores how different parameter settings may affect the program behavior. In order to infer invariants depending on parameters, we introduce parametric strategy iteration. This algorithm determines the preci...

In this paper, a new method for modelling and estimation of reliability parameters of power transformer components in distribution and transmission voltage levels for preventive-corrective maintenance schedule of transformers is proposed. In this method, with optimal estimation of Weibull distribution parameters using least squares method and input data uncertainty reduction, failure rate and p...

We analyse competition between two retailers of broadband access when they differ in their ability to offer value-added services. One retailer is vertically integrated and controls the input-market for local access. This firm invests to increase the input quality (upgrading to broadband) before an access price regulation is set. We first show that access price regulation may lower consumer surp...

Procedures to divide a cake among n people with n-1 cuts (the minimum number) are analyzed and compared. For 2 persons, cut-and-choose, while envy-free and efficient, limits the cutter to exactly 50% if he or she is ignorant of the chooser’s preferences, whereas the chooser can generally obtain more. By comparison, a new 2person surplus procedure (SP’), which induces the players to be truthful ...

Humanitarian organizations pre-position relief items in pre-disaster and distribute them to the affected areas in post-disaster. Improper planning of emergency operations causes more deaths in post-disaster. In this paper, the problem of relief item pre-positioning and multi-period distribution planning is addressed considering lateral transhipment among distribution centres to improve the effi...