Is the cross-sectional distribution of house prices close to a (log)normal distribution, as is often assumed in empirical studies on house price indexes? How does the distribution evolve over time? To address these questions, we investigate the cross-sectional distribution of house prices in the Greater Tokyo Area. We find that house prices (Pi) are distributed with much fatter tails than a log...

The market power of the incumbents means that average pool prices are set by the costs of entry. Reforms which raise entry costs will be proposed and should be resisted. Reforms to capacity payments may have little effect on prices, but could affect system security. The values of VOLL and LOLP appear grossly incorrect, and if changed might affect reserve margins and the allocation of investment...

We undertake an experimental study of heuristics designed for the Travel division of the Trading Agent Competition. Our primary goal is to analyze the performance of the sample average approximation (SAA) heuristic, which is approximately optimal in the decision-theoretic (DT) setting, in this game-theoretic (GT) setting. To this end, we conduct experiments in four settings, three DT and one GT...

This paper proposes a novel market-based system for ridesharing, where commuters are matched based on their declared travel constraints, the number of available seats (which could be zero), and their costs. Based on this information, the system then designates commuters to be either drivers or riders, finds appropriate matches, and calculates rewards for drivers and payments for riders. We show...

PURPOSE Existing literature shows negative relationships between gasoline price and motor vehicle crashes, particularly among teens. This paper extends that literature by evaluating the relationship between gasoline price and self-reported risky driving among teens. DESIGN Observational study using multivariate empirical analysis, using pooled data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, waves 2...

We prove the stability of equilibrium in a completely decentralized Walrasian general equilibrium economy in which prices are fully controlled by economic agents, with production and trade occurring out of equilibrium. Journal of Economic Literature Classifications: C62—Existence and Stability Conditions of Equilibrium D51—Exchange and Production Economies D58—Computable and Other Applied Gener...

In this paper we will motivate the cellular controlled short-range communication for cooperative services in 4G wireless networks. Without going into the technical details, we advocate by means of very illustrative scenarios, that cooperation of users and their terminals better services can be achieved at lower prices. This new step in technology comes in combination with a social aspects of co...

This article reports the decision of pharmaceutical companies to reduce the prices of anti-HIV drugs in developing countries. It is stated that some of the companies have pledged to sell the pharmaceuticals at prices just above the manufacturing costs, at a discount of up to 90%. This strategy is part of an unprecedented effort to combat AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Participating companies in...