Publisher, be damned! From price gouging to the open road

Algorithmic pricing may lead to more efficient and contestable markets, but high-impact, low-probability events such as terror attacks or heavy storms may lead to price gouging, which may trigger injunctions or get sellers banned from platforms such as Amazon or eBay. This work addresses how such events may impact prices when set by an algorithm and how different markets may be affected. We analyze how to mitigate these high-impact events by paying attention to external (market conditions) and internal (algorithm design) features surrounding the algorithms. We find that both forces may help in partially mitigating price gouging, but it remains unknown which forces or features may lead to complete mitigation.

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Effects of Retroreflector Placement on the Nighttime Conspicuity of Pedestrians: An Open-Road Study

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193120705102411 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 51 (24) ◽

pp. 1565-1568 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Stacy A. Balk ◽

Justin S. Graving ◽

Ryan G. Chanko ◽

Richard A. Tyrrell

Keyword(s):

Biological Motion ◽

Class Ii ◽

Left Shoulder ◽

Test Vehicle ◽

Safety Devices ◽

Road Study ◽

Open Road

While considerable data indicate that positioning retroreflective markings on a pedestrian's extremities can dramatically enhance nighttime conspicuity, most relevant safety devices (vests) limit coverage to the torso. We asked 120 participants to press a button whenever they recognized that a pedestrian was present during a short drive at night. A test pedestrian wearing different configurations of retroreflective markings was positioned on the left shoulder of an unilluminated two-lane roadway. Compared to an ANSI class-II vest alone, response distances were significantly greater when the vest was supplemented with ankle markings and when a full biological motion configuration was worn. Conspicuity was also greater when the pedestrian was walking and when facing the approaching test vehicle. Relative to a full eleven-element biological motion configuration, adding just two retroreflective ankle straps to a conventional safety vest is considerably more practical while still providing substantial conspicuity benefits.

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Traffic Sign Legibility for Different Sign Background Colors: Results of an Open Road Study at Freeway Speeds

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193120805202305 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 52 (23) ◽

pp. 1855-1859 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dillon Funkhouser ◽

Susan Chrysler ◽

Alicia Nelson ◽

Eun Sug Park

Keyword(s):

Traffic Sign ◽

Road Study ◽

Open Road

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Influences of vehicles’ fuel consumption and exhaust emissions on the trip cost without late arrival under car-following model

International Journal of Modern Physics C ◽

10.1142/s012918311650011x ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 27 (01) ◽

pp. 1650011 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Tie-Qiao Tang ◽

Qiang Yu

Keyword(s):

Fuel Consumption ◽

Exhaust Emissions ◽

Optimal Time ◽

Fuel Cost ◽

Total Cost ◽

Car Following ◽

Time Headway ◽

Late Arrival ◽

Car Following Model ◽

Open Road

In this paper, we use car-following model to explore the influences of the vehicle’s fuel consumption and exhaust emissions on each commuter’s trip cost without late arrival on one open road. Our results illustrate that considering the vehicle’s fuel cost and emission cost only enhances each commuter’s trip cost and the system’s total cost, but has no prominent impacts on his optimal time headway at the origin of each open road under the minimum total cost.

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Price gouging and the duty of easy rescue

Economics and Philosophy ◽

10.1017/s026626712000036x ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-24

Author(s):

Elizabeth Brake

Keyword(s):

Legal Enforcement ◽

Price Gouging ◽

Special Case ◽

Moral Wrongness

Abstract What, if anything, is wrong with price gouging? Its defenders argue that it increases supply of scarce necessities; critics argue that it is exploitative, inequitable and vicious. In this paper, I argue for its moral wrongness and legal prohibition, without relying on charges of exploitation, inequity or poor character. What is fundamentally wrong with price gouging is that it violates a duty of easy rescue. While legal enforcement of such duties is controversial, a special case can be made for their legal enforcement in this context. This account distinguishes, morally, price gouging by corporations from that of individual entrepreneurs.

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