Auctions are nowadays a popular and frequently employed market mechanism in electronicmarkets. In economic literature, the success of electronic auctions has been largelyattributed to the reduction of transaction costs, the large number of potential buyers,and the independence of time and space....

This citation by Robert Neal and Simon Wheatley from their 1998 article about investorsentiment offers several insights and paves the way for this first chapter by making thefollowing statements: First, the opinion of individual investors on the market isimportant. Second, they are often wrong....

Increasing the shares of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Distributed EnergyResources (DER) is one of the most important levers in many countries to cope withthe environmental, political, and economic challenges of future energy supply. Theunderlying question of this thesis is whether...

Autonomous agents are widely applied to automate interactions in robotics,e.g. for selling and purchasing goods on eBay, and in financial markets, e.g. in theform of quote machines and algorithmic traders. Current research investigates efficienteconomic mechanisms that fully automate the...

Grid technologies and the related concepts of utility computing and cloud computingenable the dynamic sourcing of computer resources and services, thus allowing enterprisesto cut down on hardware and software expenses and to focus on key competencies andprocesses. Resources are shared across...

Contemporary studies show that the usage of health-related web portals increases continuously. Additionally, the internet’s usage is in a transition towards more user participation by allowing more and more user generated content. In the area of health care this development is commonly called...

In this article we provide a seminal academic investigationof mobile telephony consumers’ perception of the recentlyintroduced cost cap tariff in comparison to corresponding payper-use and flatrate calling plans. Previous studies have identifiedseveral psychological effects through which...

Future sustainable energy systems will need efficient, clean,low-cost, renewable energy sources, as well as market structuresthat motivate sustainable behaviors on the part of householdsand businesses. “Smart grid” components can help consumersmanage their consumption only if pricing...

Future sustainable energy systems will need efficient, clean,low-cost, renewable energy sources, as well as market structuresthat motivate sustainable behaviors on the part ofhouseholds and businesses. “Smart grid” components canhelp consumers manage their consumption only if pricingpolicies...

This paper proposes an approach for evaluating the relationship witha customer, leading to the creation of a Customer Intimacy Grade (CIG), acrossmultiple levels of granularity: employee, team, business unit and wholeorganization. Our approach focuses on B2B service organizations whichprovide...