Optimal pricing and capacity choice for a public service under risk of interruption |
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Authors: | Fred Schroyen Adekola Oyenuga |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Helleveien 30, 5045 Bergen, Norway |
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Abstract: | We develop rules for pricing and capacity choice for an interruptible service that recognize the interdependence between consumers’
perceptions of system reliability and their market behavior. Consumers post ex ante demands, based on their expectations on aggregate demand. Posted demands are met if ex post supply capacity is sufficient. However, if supply is inadequate all ex ante demands are proportionally interrupted. Consumers’ expectations of aggregate demand are assumed to be rational. Under reasonable
values for the consumer’s degrees of relative risk aversion and prudence, demand is decreasing in supply reliability. We derive
operational expressions for the optimal pricing rule and the capacity expansion rule. We show that the optimal price under
uncertainty consists of the optimal price under certainty plus a markup that positively depends on the degrees of relative
risk aversion, relative prudence and system reliability. We also show that any reliability enhancing investment—though lowering
the operating surplus of the public utility—is socially desirable as long as it covers the cost of investment. |
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