Task scheduling for transport and pick robots in logistics: a comparative study on constructive heuristics

We study the Transport and Pick Robots Task Scheduling (TPS) problem, in which two teams of specialized robots, transport robots and pick robots, collaborate to execute multi-station order fulfillment tasks in logistic environments. The objective is to plan a collective time-extended task schedule with the minimization of makespan. However, for this recently formulated problem, it is still unclear how to obtain satisfying results efficiently. In this research, we design several constructive heuristics to solve this problem based on the introduced sequence models. Theoretically, we give time complexity analysis or feasibility guarantees of these heuristics; empirically, we evaluate the makespan performance criteria and computation time on designed dataset. Computational results demonstrate that coupled append heuristic works better for the most cases within reasonable computation time. Coupled heuristics work better than decoupled heuristics prominently on instances with relative few pick robot numbers and large work zones. The law of diminishing marginal utility is also observed concerning the overall system performance and different transport-pick robot numbers.

St. Petersburg paradox: adoption of decisions on the basis of data mining and development of software in the sphere of business analytics

This article is devoted to analysis of models of St. Petersburg paradox, as well as development of software in the sphere of business analysis. This work is based on mathematical models using theories of probability and games as well as expert survey method. It is demonstrated that the St. Petersburg paradox is a mathematical problem of probability theory with artificial conditions. The influence of this problem on economical theory is exemplified by such provisions as the principle of diminishing marginal utility, the use of expected utility as criterion of decision adoption in uncertain environment, as well as foundations of microeconomics of insurance and risk management, theory of games and some approaches to financial simulation. Adoption of decisions on the basis of the St. Petersburg paradox is analyzed. Review of main decisions of the St. Petersburg paradox and their influence for economic theory has confirmed that the St. Petersburg paradox as a mathematical problem can be used as mathematical model upon implementation of financial simulation. Comparative analysis of available BI solutions has confirmed that most of them propose all major functions, and significant differences can be revealed in penetration of expanded functions.

A Rehabilitation of the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility: An Ordinal Marginal Utility Approach

The model in which an individual maximizes his ordinal or cardinal total utility has long been the paradigm of individual choice theory. However, the two mainstream utility theories, the ordinal and cardinal total utility theories, have caused a dilemma, i.e. one has to sacrifice one of the following two: the good property of utility ordinality, or common-sense notions such as the law of diminishing marginal utility. Ordinal theory keeps the former but gives up the latter, while cardinal theory keeps the latter but sacrifices the former. We propose an ordinal marginal utility approach aiming to solve this dilemma by changing the very first assumption regarding individual choice.

The Psychology Of Marginal Utility

That wealth has diminishing marginal utility is a fact of life, and that people be sensitive to their current level of wealth when deciding whether to pursue additional wealth is a requirement of rational choice. A series of experiments, spanning diverse contexts, reveal marginal-utility neglect—that people are rather insensitive to their current wealth when deciding how much effort to expend to acquire a monetary reward (e.g., how long to walk to claim a voucher). Moreover, the experiments demonstrate that a marginal-utility-prompting manipulation, which prompts people to consider their current wealth and their need for the reward given their current wealth, produces a significant sensitization effect—making financially richer (vs. less rich) individuals less (vs. more) willing to seek the reward. This manipulation is more effective than either prompting people to consider their current wealth alone or consider their need for the reward alone, suggesting that marginal-utility prompting does not merely draw people’s attention to their current wealth or merely draw their attention to their need for the reward, but links the two elements. This research elucidates the psychology of marginal utility and yields implications beyond the pursuit of monetary rewards.

Research on Cultural Tourism Product Development of “Impression Liu Sanjie” Based on the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility

According to the law of diminishing marginal utility, the marginal utility when consumers purchase a certain product shows a diminishing trend. As a special product, cultural tourism products, whether is the marginal utility produced during consumption also affected by the law of diminishing marginal utility. This paper takes “Impression Liu Sanjie” as the research object and uses a linear regression equation model to study the marginal utility of tourists “Impression Liu Sanjie” cultural tourism products. The results show that the marginal utility produced by tourists buying the cultural tourism products of “Impression Liu Sanjie” shows an obvious decreasing trend. The main reason is that the cultural tourism products of “Impression Liu Sanjie” lack innovation and strong brand characteristics, the overall scale is small, the positioning is not accurate, etc., affected by the competition of homogenized products in the surrounding area, and the return rate of tourists is low. Moreover, there is a gap between existing products and the development trend of high-end tourism, which cannot meet the needs of tourists for indepth experience and research tourism. Therefore, “Impression Liu Sanjie” needs to intensify innovation, fundamentally solve the problem of diminishing marginal utility, further stabilize the source of tourists and meet the needs of tourists for repeated consumption quality, and realize sustainable tourism development.

The utilitarian case against the universal basic income

The universal basic income (UBI) is morally desirable because it makes peoples' lives better: If a UBI were to be implemented, average and total welfare in the population would significantly increase. However, I argue that a non-universal basic income that is adjusted for people's prior income and wealth (and which therefore takes into account the diminishing marginal utility of money on individual welfare) is more effective than the UBI at maximizing welfare in a population. If we sincerely care about the utilitarian goal of the UBI, then non-universal basic income schemes that are better at achieving that goal should be considered both in theory as well as in practice.