We introduce the pathwise optimization (PO) method, a new convex optimization procedure to produce upper and lower bounds on the optimal value (the "price") of a high-dimensional optimal stopping problem. The PO method builds on a dual characterization of optimal stopping problems as...

Acall center with both contract and noncontract customers was giving priority to the contract customers only in off-peak hours, precisely when having priority was least important. In this paper, we investigate whether this is rational behavior on the part of the call center and what the...

In this paper we consider a transportation system consisting of a carrier with capacity Q \le \infty , operating between two terminals. Passengers arrive at these terminals according to independent Poisson processes and are transported by the carrier from one terminal to the other terminal....

Drug use and related problems change substantially over time, so it seems plausible that drug interventions should vary too. To investigate this possibility, we set up a continuous time version of the first-order difference equation model of cocaine use introduced by Everingham and Rydell...

An optimal decision and control model was developed and used for dual purpose allocation of water from a reservoir. The model was constructed for the Hazbani-Dan Water System in the Upper Galilee (Israel). In this system about half of the Dan River water enters and is stored in a reservoir and...

The M^X/G/1 queueing system is studied under the following two situations: (1) At the end of a busy period, the server is turned off and inspects the length of the queue every time an arrival occurs. When the queue length reaches, or exceeds, a pre-specified value m for the first time, the server...

In this paper, we revisit and clarify the celebrated machine maintenance and sale age model of Kamien and Schwartz (KS) involving a machine subject to failure. KS formulate and solve the problem as a deterministic optimal control problem with the probability of the machine failure as the state...

The purpose of this note is to formulate and solve a dynamic optimization problem based on the Blattberg-Jeuland advertising model. Also examined is the behavior of the optimal long-run equilibrium level of advertising with respect to changes in some important parameters of the problem. In...

A two-stage decision and control model for the operation of the power station in the Hazbani-Dan Water System (Israel) was developed and implemented. In this system, river water is stored and then either consumed by agricultural farms or released to a hydroelectric power station. Under...

We examine pricing policy for a monopolist facing uncertain demand in a market characterized by dynamics on the demand side (such as diffusion or saturation effects) and/or on the cost side (experience curve effects). Our model explicitly incorporates the impact of demand uncertainty, and thus...