Pricing strategies of an oligopolist in federated cloud markets

In this paper, we study how an oligopolist influences the coalition structure in federated cloud markets. Specifically, we use cooperative game theory to model the circumstances under which a cloud provider prefers to join a cloud federation vis-a-vis consider taking a price offer made by an oligopolist. We consider two price offering strategies for an oligopolist: non-adaptive and adaptive. In non-adaptive strategy, an oligopolist makes a price offer to all the cloud providers simultaneously. It can be noted that the oligopolist can buy-out all the cloud providers by making a price offer which is equal to a core allocation and the total price offer made by the oligopolist is equal to the value of the grand coalition. In adaptive strategy, the oligopolist approaches the cloud providers one after another in a sequential manner. We show that by using the adaptive strategy, the oligopolist can buy-out all the cloud providers at a total price offer which is less than that of the non-adaptive strategy.

Making The Casher Application For The Tonguewing Meatball Restaurant Using Mysql And Netbeans

The development of information technology and science in the field of automation has recently had a great influence in almost all fields. An automated system makes all work easier with very accurate results and reduces processing time. In this scientific writing, the author discusses the difficulties in the data collection process, calculating the total price and checking data in a restaurant that still uses the manual method, which is why the author creates this application that aims to simplify and facilitate entrepreneurs help build their business from mistakes or even losses that can be detrimental to both the customer and the restaurant manager. The design of this POS application uses UML, navigation structures and flowcharts. For the software, the author uses NetBeans and MySQL applications to process the database.

Contributions of Productivity and Relative Price Changes to Wheat Profitability Changes in China

Using the provincial panel data of wheat from 1998 to 2018, based on the total price and quantity framework proposed by O'Donnell(2010), and using Färe-Primont productivity index, this artical decomposes the change of wheat profitability into the change of input-output relative price (TT) and the change of total factor productivity (TFP), and further decomposes the change of TFP into technological progress and efficiency change based on input orientation. The results showed that the overall profitability of wheat decreased by 24.9% compared with 1998, which was attributed to the decrease of TT by 32.6% and the increase of TFP by 11.4%. Results indicate that profitability change is mainly driven by TT change, and the impact of TT change on wheat profitability was alleviated by the compensatory change of TFP. The main driving factor of wheat TFP growth is technical progress, Compared with the growth of technical progress, the technical efficiency grows slowly.

Hedonic Price for Amenities in Rural and Urban Residential Condominiums in Costa Rica

As the number of homes located in condominiums increases, investigations should be promoted to determine the implied price of additional amenities over the total price of the property. This study evaluated the impact of multi-attribute and construction variables on the value of condominiums in Costa Rica, using a hedonic pricing model of the amenities that influence the total price. Information from condominiums located in all provinces of the country was used to determine the importance of the variables studied. Through multiple regression analysis, it was determined that nine amenities explain the behavior of the total price. This study shows that the project’s internal and external variables have a significant effect on sales prices and consumers’ purchasing decisions. The most significant variables were income, construction area, access to a pool and gym, and the type of condominium.

Micromask Lithography for Cheap and Fast 2D Materials Microstructures Fabrication

The fast and precise fabrication of micro-devices based on single flakes of novel 2D materials and stacked heterostructures is vital for exploration of novel functionalities. In this paper, we demonstrate a fast high-resolution contact mask lithography through a simple upgrade of metallographic optical microscope. Suggested kit for the micromask lithography is compact and easily compatible with a glove box, thus being suitable for a wide range of air-unstable materials. The shadow masks could be either ordered commercially or fabricated in a laboratory using a beam lithography. The processes of the mask alignment and the resist exposure take a few minutes and provide a micrometer resolution. With the total price of the kit components around USD 200, our approach would be convenient for laboratories with the limited access to commercial lithographic systems.

Multiobjective Programming Strategy of Small- and Medium-Sized Microenterprise Credit Based on Random Factors

In this paper, we select eight indicators from the aspects of an enterprise’s bill transaction information, namely, whether the enterprise’s loan is in breach of contract, effective invoice rate, total utilization rate of price and tax, negative invoice rate, strength of enterprise, coefficient of variation, flow efficiency of assets, and influence of upstream and downstream enterprises; then, we construct an evaluation index system. According to different industries, different categories, and the impact of random factors, we divide the types of enterprises into 10 categories. Then, we use three kinds of Poisson random numbers to carry out numerical simulation on the total price and tax of enterprises in different industries under the influence of COVID-19.

Investigating Green Marketing Implementation with the Hedonic Price Model in Residential Projects: The Case of Istanbul

The strategic importance of green marketing (GM) in value creation for the end customer (VCEC) and the contribution of the spatial and structural characteristics of a residential project (RP) to the final price have been acknowledged in the literature. However, GM features that can lead to price increases have not been evaluated from the VCEC perspective. This study examines the impacts of GM strategies on RPs. This study applies Hedonic Price Modelling to newly built RPs in Istanbul and evaluates the results from the perspective of the Attractive Quality Attributes Theory. The results showed that the total price of the RPs was affected more by design-related sustainable features of RPs and revealed that there is a relationship between GM and sustainable design. The study highlights the importance of GM, which companies can use to operate effectively in a competitive market and increase the satisfaction of end customers through value creation. The study’s findings can be considered useful information for policies on creating a sustainable built environment.

Do Households Respond to the Marginal or Average Price of Piped Water Services?

Water utilities commonly use complex, nonlinear tariff structures to balance multiple tariff objectives. When these tariffs change, how will customers respond? Do customers respond to the marginal volumetric prices embedded in each block, or do they respond to an average price? Because empirical demand estimation relies heavily on the answer to this question, it has been discussed in the water, electricity, and tax literatures for over 50 years. To optimize water consumption in an economically rational way, consumers must have knowledge of the tariff structure and their consumption. The former is challenging because of nonlinear tariffs and inadequate tariff information provided on bills; the latter is challenging because consumption is observed only once and with a lag (at the end of the period of consumption). A large number of empirical studies show that, when asked, consumers have poor knowledge about tariff structures, marginal prices, and (often) their water consumption. Several studies since 2010 have used methods with cleaner causal identification, namely regression discontinuity approaches that exploit natural experiments across changes in kinks in the tariff structure, changes in utility service area borders, changes in billing periods, or a combination. Three studies found clear evidence that consumers respond to average volumetric price. Two studies found evidence that consumers react to marginal prices, although in both studies the change in price may have been especially salient. One study did not explicitly rule out an average price response. Only one study examined responsiveness to average total price, which includes the fixed, nonvolumetric component of the bill. There are five messages for water professionals. First, inattention to complex tariff schedules and marginal prices should not be confused with inattention to all prices: customers do react to changes in prices, and prices should remain an important tool for managing scarcity and increasing economic efficiency. Second, there is substantial evidence that most customers do not understand complex tariffs and likely do not respond to changes in marginal price. Third, most studies have failed to clearly distinguish between average total price and average volumetric price, highlighting the importance of fixed charges in consumer perception. Fourth, evidence as of late 2020 pointed toward consumers’ responding to average volumetric price, but it may be that this simply better approximates average total price than marginal or expected marginal prices; no studies have explicitly tested this. Finally, although information treatments can likely increase customers’ understanding of complex tariffs (and hence marginal price), it is likely a better use of resources to simplify tariffs and pair increased volumetric charges with enhanced customer assistance programs to help poor customers, rather than relying on increasing block tariffs.

The Financing of Wastewater Treatment and the Balance of Payments for Water Services: Evidence from Municipalities in the Region of Valencia

Pollution from wastewater discharges requires the treatment of all wastewater to maintain water bodies in good condition, as well as the possibility of reusing this water. Thus, wastewater treatment is an activity that has developed significantly in the Region of Valencia and has significant costs, including energy, which represents the main economic cost and an important environmental cost. In this way, efficiency and adequate financing of this activity are essential to minimise our environmental impact. However, the main funding tool currently does not allow us to address this issue, so we have a wastewater treatment with a high environmental cost in the form of greenhouse gas emissions. This tool is part of the revenues of water services, so it is not entirely independent, but it also seeks to prevent households from paying too high a total price. This leads to a situation where changes are needed to improve the financing of the different water services, as the financial resources obtained are insufficient and do not allow the current environmental problems to be solved. The analysis shows the importance of an appropriate tariff structure, as well as the need to include aspects such as water pollution and energy costs in the wastewater treatment tariff.

NON-LINEAR RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN HOUSE SIZE AND PRICE

This study reexamines the relationship between house size and price by using the quantile regression model. Housing transactions data of the National Taipei University Special Zone in Taiwan are adopted, and the findings are as follows. First, the total price of a smaller housing unit will increase at a decreasing rate as its size increases. The decrease in marginal price might be due to the declining marginal utility of the property right. Secondly, the total price of a larger housing unit will increase at an increasing rate as its size increases. The size premium effect might be due to the influence of conspicuous consumption. Thirdly, housing with a lower square meter price is subject to greater price competitiveness in the market, and the price will increase at a decreasing rate as the size increases. Conversely, a housing unit with a higher square meter price will decrease at an increasing rate as its size increases. This might be due to the constraint imposed by the purchaser’s housing affordability. These findings clarify the nonlinear relationships between housing size and price, and provide very useful information for decision making of the developers, home purchasers, real estate appraisers, and the governments.