We examine neighborhood structures for heuristic search applicable to a general class of vehicle routing problems (VRPs). Our methodology utilizes a cyclic-order solution encoding, which maps a permutation of the customer set to a collection of many possible VRP solutions. We identify the best...

We consider a collection of heterogeneous assets which exhibit independent stochastic behavior, but are economically interdependent due to resource constraints on management decisions. We represent the collection of assets as a network of nonhomogeneous Markov decision processes linked by side...

We consider a vertically integrated papermaking operation composed of an integrated pulp and paper mill with its regional supply network. Considering land procurement and harvest rotation as strategic decision variables, we construct a model to establish a long-range timber supply plan that...

Forecasting prices in online auctions is important for both buyers and sellers. With good forecasts, bidders can make informed bidding decisions and sellers can select the right time and place to list their products. While information from other auctions can help forecast an ongoing auction, it...

The path that the price takes during an on-line auction plays an important role in understanding and forecasting on-line auctions. Price dynamics, such as the price velocity or its acceleration, capture the speed at which auction information changes. The ability to estimate price dynamics...

A series of interesting questions will be proposed and tried to be answered in this paper such as: Is there a limit of disaster-bearing capability in a region human-environment system (HES) when the system is hit by an extreme flood disaster? If so, what does it mean and how can it be explained?...

Purpose – This paper therefore aims at systematically estimating the agricultural trade induced farm employment effects in China. Design/methodology/approach – Using detailed agricultural trade and production data during 1994-2009, the authors estimate the “labor contents” of...

This paper performs a meta-analysis to investigate how changes over time, model specifications, differences in data sets, and variable definitions could contribute to the differences in estimates of returns to education in China. The results show that approximately 10 percent of the variation...

This paper describes exact and heuristic approaches for scheduling multiple cranes that service a shipyard that produces multiple ships concurrently. Cranes transport a variety of materials over a shared network of tracks; therefore, inter-crane interference is a major factor affecting makespan...

In humans, the relationship between experience and productivity, also known as learning (possibly also including forgetting), is non-linear. As a result, prescriptive planning models that seek to manage workforce development through task assignment are difficult to solve. To overcome this...