Transaction or Membership?Impact on On-Demand Delivery Service Platforms'Profits,Consumer Surplus,and Labor Welfare

In recent years,two pricing policies are commonly adopted by on-demand delivery service platforms(e.g,Meituan PaoTui and Costco)that provide delivery services to heterogeneous customers via self-scheduling providers.One called"transaction-based"pricing policy(TBPP)allows the platforms to determine a per-service wage paid to providers and a price charged to customers for each transaction.The other one called"membership-based"pricing policy(MBPP)also allows the platforms to announce a wage paid to providers but charge customers a membership fee for using an unlimited number of the services in a certain period(e.g.,one month).This paper considers an on-demand delivery service platform with self-scheduling providers and two classes of customers(i.e.,regular and frequent customers).We aim to analyze and compare the platform's profits and welfare performances generated by the two pricing policies.If the number of regular customers and their preference for TBPP equal the number of frequent customers and their preference for MBPP,respectively,we show that compared with the MBPP,employing the TBPP is beneficial for the platform but is detrimental for customers and providers.However,adopting the MBPP(TBPP)can simultaneously benefit the platform,customers and providers if frequent customers'preference for MBPP is higher(lower)than regular customers'preference for TBPP or the number of frequent customers is larger(less)than regular customers.

Incorporating transportation network modeling tools within transportation economic impact studies of disasters

Transportation system disruption due to a disaster results in ＂ripple effects＂ throughout the entire transportation system of a metropolitan region. Many researchers have focused on the economic costs of transportation system disruptions in transportation-related industries, specifically within commerce and logistics, in the assessment of the regional economic costs. However, the foundation of an assessment of the regional economic costs of a disaster needs to include the evaluation of consumer surplus in addition to the direct cost for reconstruction of the regional transportation system. The objective of this study is to propose a method to estimate the regional consumer surplus based on indirect economic costs of a disaster on intermodal transportation systems in the context of diverting vehicles and trains. The computational methods used to assess the regional indirect economic costs sustained by the highway and railroad system can utilize readily available state departments of transportation （DOTs） and metropolitan planning organizations （MPOs） traffic models allowing prioritization of regional recovery plans after a disaster and strengthening of infrastructure before a disaster. Hurricane Katrina is one of the most devastating hurricanes in the history of the United States. Due to the significance of Hurricane Katrina, a case study is presented to evaluate consumer surplus in the Gulf Coast Region of Mississippi. Results from the case study indicate the costs of rerouting and congestion delays in the regional highway system and the rent costs of fight-of-way in the regional railroad system are major factors of the indirect costs in the consumer surplus.