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Intermediate microeconomics : A modern approach
01 Jan 2006-
TL;DR: The Varian approach as mentioned in this paper gives students tools they can use on exams, in the rest of their classes, and in their careers after graduation, and is still the most modern presentation of the subject.
Abstract: This best-selling text is still the most modern presentation of the subject. The Varian approach gives students tools they can use on exams, in the rest of their classes, and in their careers after graduation.
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TL;DR: A Vickrey–Clarke–Groves auction-based approach for multigranularity service composition is proposed in order to overcome the shortcomings of existing approaches, e.g., unpredictability in service pricing, and lack of economic efficiency.
Abstract: When a single service on its own cannot fulfill a sophisticated application, a composition of services is required. Existing methods mostly use a fixed-price scheme for service pricing and determine service allocation for composition based on a first-price auction. However, in a dynamic service market, it is difficult for service providers to determine a fixed price that is profitable while attractive to customers. Meanwhile, this mechanism cannot ensure that the providers who require the least cost to provide services would win the auction, because the pricing strategy of service providers is unpredictable. To address such issues, in this paper, we propose Vickrey–Clarke–Groves auction-based dynamic pricing for a generalized service composition. We consider fine-grained services as candidates for composition as well as coarse-grained ones. In our approach, service providers bid for services of different granularities in the composite service and based on received bids, a user decides a composition that minimizes the social cost while meeting quality constraints. Experimental results at last verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach. Note to Practitioners —Motivated by the popular auction-based dynamic pricing in the modern Internet business, this paper proposes a Vickrey–Clarke–Groves auction-based approach for multigranularity service composition in order to overcome the shortcomings of existing approaches, e.g., unpredictability in service pricing, and lack of economic efficiency. The proposed approach instantiates a composite service in an economically efficient way and it offers service providers with the incentives to honestly declare the true costs of their concrete services in the bids. In the experiments, compared with fine-grained service composition, the proposed approach reduces the social cost and user payment of service composition by 6.8% and 11.2% on average, respectively, and it also shows superiority over the first-price auction-based approach.
54 citations
Cites background from "Intermediate microeconomics : A mod..."
...Let R be a random number generated from the uniform distribution over the interval [5], [10]....
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...Second, this mechanism is not economically efficient, because the pricing strategy of service providers is out of control [5], i....
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07 Sep 2007
TL;DR: In this article, a framework for precisely characterizing and analyzing the scalability of a software system is presented, which treats scalability as a multi-criteria optimization problem and captures the dependency relationships that underlie typical notions of scalability.
Abstract: The term scalability appears frequently in computing literature, but it is a term that is poorly defined and poorly understood. The lack of a clear, consistent and systematic treatment of scalability makes it difficult to evaluate claims of scalability and to compare claims from different sources. This paper presents a framework for precisely characterizing and analyzing the scalability of a software system. The framework treats scalability as a multi-criteria optimization problem and captures the dependency relationships that underlie typical notions of scalability. The paper presents the results of a case study in which the framework and analysis method were applied to a real-world system, demonstrating that it is possible to develop a precise, systematic characterization of scalability and to use the characterization to compare the scalability of alternative system designs.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report on a study of recreational trips to nature areas, the economic value of recreation in nature and factors influencing such trips, and explore the possibilities of designing a nature-based recreation management strategy that could meet societal preferences and demands for recreation amenities.
Abstract: Most ecosystem services that are not traded on markets contribute to human welfare; however, these services are often undervalued due to the fact that their economic value is not well known. Accounting for the value of these services can help in making decisions that enable efficient use of environmental resources. This paper reports on a study of recreational trips to nature areas, the economic value of recreation in nature and factors influencing such trips. It also aimed to explore the possibilities of designing a nature-based recreation management strategy that could meet societal preferences and demands for recreation amenities. Data were obtained from a survey that involved Swedish residents who were randomly selected from a national register and were analysed using a negative binomial regression model. The results showed that the average frequency of trips to nature areas was 80 trips annually and the average travel cost for a trip to these areas was 117 SEK (16 USD). Forest-dominated areas...
53 citations
TL;DR: A competence set is derived that addresses changes and individual preferences for specific competence components within e-business teams and connects these preferences and competence valuation with personal characteristics of team members that were found to influence the perception of competence requirements in previous research.
Abstract: The ascension of e-business has significantly changed competence requirements of information technology (IT) professionals. In this paper, we derive a competence set that addresses these changes and investigate individual preferences for specific competence components within e-business teams. We connect these preferences and competence valuation with personal characteristics of team members that were found to influence the perception of competence requirements in previous research. To empirically address this issue, we apply a Web-based questionnaire with adaptive conjoint measurement. By cluster analysis, we identify four competence profiles preferred by team members. Data from 176 respondents suggest that experience is related to the preferred profile, whereas expertise is related to overall competence valuation. Our research suggests that immature teams should consider that preferences regarding IT professionals may change with venture maturation, whereas interdisciplinary teams should discuss each member's value contribution. Considering our results, these suggestions could optimize the process of team composition.
53 citations
Cites background from "Intermediate microeconomics : A mod..."
...This decision hence provides a meaningful context for studying preferences, as they mainly manifest themselves in crucial decision-making situations [91]....
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...In line with microeconomic theory, individual preference structures may be mathematically depicted using utility functions, where utility is a measure of the relative satisfaction from or desire for the consumption of goods [91]....
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...economic value is noT a purely objecTive aTTribuTe of goods, but it is grounded in the subjective perception of human beings [91]....
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...The reservation price represents a consumer’s willingness to pay and can thus be used as a measure for the customer’s perceived utility of a good [91]....
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