scholarly journals On the Teaching of Price Discrimination in Block Pricing: A Refinement

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bolong Cao
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Price Discrimination ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Pricing Scheme ◽  
Standard Picture ◽  
Block Pricing

Abstract In many textbooks, an important assumption difference between the standard picture for block pricing and the intuitive discussions on this pricing scheme is often ignored. This practice leads the students to misunderstand this picture as an illustration for price discrimination against heterogeneous buyers. In this article, I analyze how some textbook narratives can lead to this misinterpretation. Then, I provide a simple example that shows how block pricing discriminates buyers with heterogeneous demands. A real life example as applied to the transportation rates of natural gas for block pricing is also provided and discussed.

An Economic and Antitrust Analysis of the Distribution of Medical Products

1990 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-523
Author(s):  
Arnold C. Celnicker
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Price Discrimination ◽  
High Price ◽  
Medical Products ◽  
Pricing Scheme ◽  
Antitrust Analysis

The techniques used to distribute medical products are designed to maximize the manufacturers’ profits by charging a relatively low price to hospitals and a relatively high price to other purchasers, such as doctors and nursing homes. This pricing scheme raises complex antitrust problems, including vertical price fixing between the manufacturer and its distributors, price discrimination by the manufacturer, and agreements between the manufacturer and the hospitals restricting the hospitals’ ability to resell. This Article examines these antitrust issues.

scholarly journals Data Analysis and Model Validation of Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline With Compressor Station

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Performance Analysis ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Model Validation ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Gas Pipeline ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Pressure Drops ◽  
Natural Gas Transmission ◽  
Transmission Pipeline

Abstract Data from the DCS systems provides important information about the performance and transportation efficiency of a gas pipeline with compressor stations. The pipeline performance data provides correction factors for compressors as part of the operation optimization of natural gas transmission pipelines. This paper presents methods, procedure, and a real life example of model validation based performance analysis of gas pipeline. Statistic methods are demonstrated with real gas pipeline measurement data. The methods offer practical ways to validate the pipeline hydraulics model using the DCS data. The validated models are then used as performance analysis tools in evaluating the fundamental physical parameters and assessing the pipeline hydraulics conditions for potential issues influencing pressure drops in the pipeline such as corrosion (ID change), roughness changes, or BSW deposition.

Evaluation of increasing block pricing for households' natural gas: A case study of Beijing, China

Energy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 162-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lanlan Li ◽  
Xuan Luo ◽  
Kaile Zhou ◽  
Tingting Xu
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Beijing China ◽  
Block Pricing

On an Open Question Regarding When Two-Block Pricing Weakly Dominates Two-Part Tariff

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-213
Author(s):  
Frederick Chen
Keyword(s):  
Jel Classification ◽  
Weak Dominance ◽  
Pricing Scheme ◽  
Producer Surplus ◽  
Profit Maximizing ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Block Pricing ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Consumer Types

Leland and Meyer showed through an example that when the distribution of consumer types is nondegenerate, there exist two-block pricing plans that yield strictly higher producer surplus than the profit maximizing two-part tariff scheme. This led them to pose the following question: does weak dominance (in the sense of profit) rather than strict dominance of two-block pricing over two-part tariff hold only when the distribution of buyer-types is degenerate? This note shows that the answer to this question is, No: even when the distribution of consumer types is continuous, it is possible that the best two-block pricing scheme performs no better than the best two-part tariff. JEL Classification: D4

scholarly journals Application of Artificial Neural Networks for Natural Gas Consumption Forecasting

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athanasios Anagnostis ◽  
Elpiniki Papageorgiou ◽  
Dionysis Bochtis
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Qualitative Variables ◽  
Gas Consumption ◽  
Natural Gas Consumption ◽  
Artificial Neural ◽  
Artificial Neural Network Ann ◽  
Network Approaches

The present research study explores three types of neural network approaches for forecasting natural gas consumption in fifteen cities throughout Greece; a simple perceptron artificial neural network (ANN), a state-of-the-art Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and the proposed deep neural network (DNN). In this research paper, a DNN implementation is proposed where variables related to social aspects are introduced as inputs. These qualitative factors along with a deeper, more complex architecture are utilized for improving the forecasting ability of the proposed approach. A comparative analysis is conducted between the proposed DNN, the simple ANN, and the advantageous LSTM, with the results offering a deeper understanding the characteristics of Greek cities and the habitual patterns of their residents. The proposed implementation shows efficacy on forecasting daily values of energy consumption for up to four years. For the evaluation of the proposed approach, a real-life dataset for natural gas prediction was used. A detailed discussion is provided on the performance of the implemented approaches, the ANN and the LSTM, that are characterized as particularly accurate and effective in the literature, and the proposed DNN with the inclusion of the qualitative variables that govern human behavior, which outperforms them.

scholarly journals Optimized Charging of PV-Batteries for Households Using Real-Time Pricing Scheme: A Model and Heuristics-Based Implementation

Electronics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Basmadjian
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Dynamic Pricing ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Smart Meters ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Pricing Scheme ◽  
Attractive Option ◽  
Real Time Pricing ◽  
Pv Generation

The combination of solar panels (PV) with energy storage systems (ESS) has been becoming more and more a common practice for households. In this context, the battery of ESS satisfies the needs of the household when PV generation is not present. Recently, dynamic pricing became one of the measures taken to shift the demand. Thanks to technological advances (e.g., smart meters), real-time pricing (RTP) has shown to be the most attractive option in the market, due to the ease of estimating price elasticity over various time periods. We studied a PV-battery system for the case of households which are under RTP scheme. To this end, we described and modeled the underlying system, and compiled an objective function having as an optimization goal, the minimization of the charging cost of the battery. Furthermore, we propose a heuristics-based algorithm that schedules the charging process during cheap periods. To evaluate the amount of savings, we considered a real-life testbed and implemented the proposed algorithm by taking into account different scenarios. The results demonstrate the benefits of households adhering to real-time pricing scheme, where the savings reached 50% in certain cases.

scholarly journals Microstructural Characteristics of Vehicle-Aged Heavy-Duty Diesel Oxidation Catalyst and Natural Gas Three-Way Catalyst

Catalysts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomi Kanerva ◽  
Mari Honkanen ◽  
Tanja Kolli ◽  
Olli Heikkinen ◽  
Kauko Kallinen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Photoelectron Spectroscopy ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Diesel Oxidation Catalyst ◽  
Oxidation Catalyst ◽  
Heavy Duty ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Ageing Effects ◽  
Diesel Oxidation

Techniques to control vehicle engine emissions have been under increasing need for development during the last few years in the more and more strictly regulated society. In this study, vehicle-aged heavy-duty catalysts from diesel and natural gas engines were analyzed using a cross-sectional electron microscopy method with both a scanning electron microscope and a transmission electron microscope. Also, additional supporting characterization methods including X-ray diffractometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and catalytic performance analyses were used to reveal the ageing effects. Structural and elemental investigations were performed on these samples, and the effect of real-life ageing of the catalyst was studied in comparison with fresh catalyst samples. In the real-life use of two different catalysts, the poison penetration varied greatly depending on the engine and fuel at hand: the diesel oxidation catalyst appeared to suffer more thorough changes than the natural gas catalyst, which was affected only in the inlet part of the catalyst. The most common poison, sulphur, in the diesel oxidation catalyst was connected to cerium-rich areas. On the other hand, the severities of the ageing effects were more pronounced in the natural gas catalyst, with heavy structural changes in the washcoat and high concentrations of poisons, mainly zinc, phosphorus and silicon, on the surface of the inlet part.

Optimal Toll Design in Second-Best Link-Based Congestion Pricing

2003 ◽  
Vol 1857 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Yang ◽  
Xiaoning Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Cost Minimization ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Research Area ◽  
User Equilibrium ◽  
Mixed Integer ◽  
Continuous Variables ◽  
Second Best ◽  
Pricing Scheme ◽  
General Network ◽  
Selection Of

In the traffic assignment literature, it is well known that a marginal-cost toll is charged on each link to drive a user equilibrium flow pattern toward a system optimum in a general network. Although this principle is theoretically reasonable, it is not practically appealing for many reasons. In real life, a second-best pricing scheme is more attractive, where only a subset of links is subject to toll charge. Previously most studies in the research area of second-best pricing concern the determination of optimal toll levels on predetermined toll links, whereas very little attention has been devoted to the selection of toll locations. The second-best link-based pricing scheme that involves optimal selection of both toll levels and toll locations is described here. Travel cost minimization or social welfare maximization with and without inclusion of the implementation cost of the toll charge is sought in general networks. Optimization models with mixed (integer and continuous) variables are formulated for determining toll levels and toll locations simultaneously. A binary genetic algorithm is used to search optimal toll locations dynamically and a simulated annealing method is used to search optimal toll levels.

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