Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to solve the optimal power dispatch problem of thermal generating units with cubic fuel cost and emission functions. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed Simplified Direct Search Method (SDSM) is developed from the Direct Search Method (DSM) that...

Abstract Economists and marketers are often interested in estimating demand for new products and in valuing other non-market goods. Due to the increasing recognition that elicited valuations are sensitive to whether decisions are hypothetical, economists have begun to utilize incentive...

Using data from more than 400 legal serials, I estimate the impact of six publisher mergers on law serial prices during the period, 1990-2000. The results suggest that merger-related price increases were substantial during this period, even after accounting for secular price trends. Furthermore,...

When the seller of an asset grants a right-of-first-refusal to a buyer, this special buyer has the opportunity to purchase the asset at the best price the seller can obtain from the other potential buyers. We show that the right-of-first-refusal is inefficient, and it benefits the special buyer...

This study examines the dispersion in prices for homogeneous grocery products, and studies the effect of product characteristics, demographic characteristics of consumers, and market structure on search costs and price dispersion. The findings show that price dispersion is affected by search...

This article investigates the impacts of private labels (PLs) on fluid milk prices and price differentials using 2,759 supermarket-level observations from 10 cities. Non-parametric results reveal that although PL milk prices decrease as PL milk shares expand, eventually the effect is to increase...

We study the price response of national brands to the development of private labels. Using monthly data from a consumer survey, we show that prices of national brands increase with the development of private labels. However, we also show that the price increase in national brand products is...

It is common knowledge that oil discovered today, or that is newly allowed to be developed, has no effect on prices until reaching the market. However, economic theory does not support common knowledge on this issue. By lowering the value of holding oil for future sale, a future oil supply...