Fuzzy Inventory Model under Selling Price Dependent Demand and Variable Deterioration with Fully Backlogged Shortages

The objective is to develop a model considering demand dependent on selling price and deterioration occurs after a certain period of time, which follows two-parameter Weibull distribution. Shortages are allowed and fully backlogged. Fuzzy optimal solution is obtained by considering hexagonal fuzzy numbers and for defuzzification Graded Mean Integration Representation Method. A numerical example is provided for the illustration of crisp and fuzzy, both models. To observe the effect of changes in parameters, sensitivity analysis is carried out.

How did the price and income elasticities of natural gas demand in China evolve from 1999 to 2015? The role of natural gas price reform

As a cleaner,high-efficiency,and low-carbon fuel,natural gas has been an important fuel resource for China.To achieve a substantial increase in natural gas demand,China has sought to reform its natural gas pricing mechanism.Employing a set of unbalanced panel data for China’s 30 provinces covering 1999-2015,this study aims to estimate the evolving price and income elasticities of natural gas demand and explore the effect of natural gas price reform in China.For this purpose,a series of econometric techniques allowing for cross-sectional dependence and slope homogeneity is utilized.The results suggest that although natural gas demand in China still lacks negative price elasticity,the phenomenon is improving.Moreover,the estimates suggest that natural gas demand in China is indeed becoming increasingly sensitive to income changes.Our estimates also provide strong evidence in favor of the effect of natural gas price reform on the change in price elasticity as the price elasticity decreases in five of the seven regions.In addition,the results indicate large variations in the change in price and income elasticities of natural gas demand across China’s regions.Natural gas demand is becoming more price inelastic in Southwest China and Northwest China,while such demand in North China and East China responds less sensitively to income changes.These findings offer several policy suggestions for the reform of China’s natural gas market at the national and regional levels.

Research on Operation Optimization of Energy Storage Power Station and Integrated Energy Microgrid Alliance Based on Stackelberg Game

With the development of renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaics and wind power,it has become a research hotspot to improve the consumption rate of new energy and reduce energy costs through the deployment of energy storage.To solve the problem of the interests of different subjects in the operation of the energy storage power stations(ESS)and the integrated energy multi-microgrid alliance(IEMA),this paper proposes the optimization operation method of the energy storage power station and the IEMA based on the Stackelberg game.In the upper layer,ESS optimizes charging and discharging decisions through a dynamic pricing mechanism.In the lower layer,IEMA optimizes the output of various energy conversion coupled devices within the IEMA,as well as energy interaction and demand response(DR),based on the energy interaction prices provided by ESS.The results demonstrate that the optimization strategy proposed in this paper not only effectively balances the benefits of the IEMA and ESS but also enhances energy consumption rates and reduces IEMA energy costs.

Urban natural gas demand and factors analysis in China:Perspectives of price and income elasticities

Urban natural gas is becoming the main sector driving China’s natural gas consumption growth in recent years.This study explores the impacts of urban natural gas price,wage,socioeconomic determinants,and meteorological conditions on urban natural gas demand in China over 2006-2017.Furthermore,this study also analyzes the potential regional heterogeneity and asymmetry in the impacts of gas price and income on China’s urban gas demand.Empirical results reveal that:(1)The increased gas price can significantly reduce the urban gas demand,and the average income level may effectively promote the gas demand,also,a strong switching effect exists between electricity and natural gas in urban China;(2)these impacts are heterogeneous in regions among China,urban natural gas demand is largely affected by the gas price in regions with high-gas-price and by income in regions with low-gas-price;and(3)the impact of gas price on urban gas consumption is consistent in regions with different urban natural gas consumption,while the impact of income is asymmetric.This study further provides several policy implications for improving the urban natural gas industry in China.

The Impact of Price on Chemical Fertilizer Demand in China

Since 1998,the national policies on chemical fertilizer in China have been concentrated in limiting price plus subsidizing,abolishing agricultural tax,giving direct subsidies to farmers,and other aspects.In order to analyze the impact of national policies on the consumption of chemical fertilizer,this article selects the consumption of chemical fertilizer per unit,chemical fertilizer price index and farmers'net income in different provinces during the period 1998-2007 as variables,to conduct regression analysis of chemical fertilizer expenditure function,and calculate the price elasticity and income elasticity of chemical fertilizer demand in different provinces over the decade based on the regression results.The results show that at present the basic consumption of chemical fertilizer for agricultural development in China is 0.35 t/hm 2 ,and the consumption of chemical fertilizer is excessive in some provinces;the chemical fertilizer market has not been really established,and the price has little impact on demand.This indicates that the chemical fertilizer is essential for agricultural economic development,and it increases along with the increase of farmers'income; the intervention of the national policy in chemical fertilizer price is a fundamental reason for the rising demand for chemical fertilizer.This also to some extent indicates that the policy effect of merely using environmental taxes to change farmers'consumption of chemical fertilizer is limited;there is a need to transform the existing policies purely promoting agricultural economic development,toward giving different subsidies in accordance with whether the farmers'fertilization pattern is beneficial to the environment.

Factors That Affect Consumption Patterns and Market Demands for Honey in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Despite the significant annual consumption of honey in Saudi Arabia, information gaps remain with regard to the marketing and market structure of honey along the value chain. This study analyzed the major factors that influenced the consumption, expenditure patterns, and demand of honey in Saudi Arabia. This study forecasted the near-future expected market demands for honey in Saudi Arabia by collecting and analyzing the primary data using questionnaires. A total of 331 respondents from representative regions and large cities were randomly selected and interviewed. The data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative methods as well as appropriate econometric models. Respondents characterized honey quality using organoleptic words, and these characterizations varied based on the relative significance of perception parameters. Taste, aroma, physical state, and color had aggregated average scores of 4.58, 4.44, 3.54, and 3.28, respectively. In addition to the above parameters, honey source, brand name, and confidence in the producers influenced its perceived quality. The major outlets for honey in Saudi Arabia included producers, specialized honey stores, and auction markets in major cities during the harvesting seasons. Medication, food, and sweetening were the major motivations for buying honey in the Saudi market, with aggregate scores of 4.52, 3.71, and 1.52, respectively. Significant honey price variations were observed within and among different honeys and packaging volumes;this finding might be due to factors such as botanical and geographical origins, package volume size economics (i.e., bulk purchases), honey variety blending, brand names, and producer policies. The average price of locally produced honey was approximately $73 per kg, which is 10 times more than the average price of honey in the US and the EU. The estimated consumption/income elasticity was 0.27. These results suggest that honey is a basic commodity in Saudi Arabia. Based on econometric model forecasts, the Saudi market demand for honey is expected to reach approximately 29,784 tons in 2025.

Influential Factors in the Econometric Modeling of the Price of Wheat in the United States of America

Wheat is a staple agricultural grain commodity used within the United States and is grown in nearly every state. Modeling the price of Hard Winter Red wheat (the most common type of wheat) is of extreme economic and social importance. The 2008 financial crisis had a drastic effect on the price of food in real terms, tightening household budgets and increasing the US percentage of citizen classed below the poverty line. Understanding the influential factors in the econometric modeling of the price of wheat allows for more effective governmental intervention and price stabilization. Results indicate that the price of wheat is influenced by a combination of 5 separate functions: “supply”, “demand”, “macroeconomic”, “climate” and “natural resource” related functions. These functions derive from a wide variety of different data sources. The functions were determined and then incorporated into an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model taking into account variable interaction, variable transformation and time. This regression exercise resulted in a good model, explaining just over 90% of the variation in the price of wheat. Yet, results indicate that the model though sensitive to sharp decreases in the price of wheat is insensitive to sharp increases in the price of wheat. Ideas are discussed of ways of improving the price model. These include the addition of other variables, such as financial speculation/increased use of climate related variables and the idea of using alternative statistical modeling techniques in place of robust OLS regression modeling, such as SVAR models and Spline GARCH models. This research implies that further research into the modeling of the price of wheat within the US has useful potential for a more productive outcome.

Analysis of an Inventory System for Items with Price-Dependent Demand and Time Dependent Three-Parameter Weibull Deterioration Function

In this research work we propose a mathematical model of an inventory system with time dependent three-parameter Weibull deterioration and price-dependent demand rate. The model incorporates shortages and deteriorating items are considered in which inventory is depleted not only by demand but also by decay, such as, direct spoilage as in fruits, vegetables and food products, or deterioration as in obsolete electronic components. Furthermore, the rate of deterioration is taken to be time-proportional, and a power law form of the price dependence of demand is considered. This price-dependence of the demand function is nonlinear, and is such that when price of a commodity increases, demand decreases and when price of a commodity decreases, demand increases. The objective of the model is to minimize the total inventory costs. From the numerical example presented to illustrate the solution procedure of the model, we obtain meaningful results. We then proceed to perform sensitivity analysis of our model. The sensitivity analysis illustrates the extent to which the optimal solution of the model is affected by slight changes or errors in its input parameter values.

Optimal operation of cold–heat–electricity multi-energy collaborative system based on price demand response

In a multi-energy collaboration system, cooling, heating, electricity, and other energy components are coupled to complement each other. Through multi-energy coordination and cooperation, they can significantly improve their individual operating efficiency and overall economic benefits. Demand response, as a multi-energy supply and demand balance method, can further improve system flexibility and economy. Therefore, a multi-energy cooperative system optimization model has been proposed, which is driven by price-based demand response to determine the impact of power-demand response on the optimal operating mode of a multi-energy cooperative system. The main components of the multi-energy collaborative system have been analyzed. The multi-energy coupling characteristics have been identified based on the energy hub model. Using market elasticity as a basis, a price-based demand response model has been built. The model has been optimized to minimize daily operating cost of the multi-energy collaborative system. Using data from an actual situation, the model has been verified, and we have shown that the adoption of price-based demand response measures can significantly improve the economy of multi-energy collaborative systems.

Two-Stage Low-Carbon Economic Dispatch of Integrated Demand Response-Enabled Integrated Energy System with Ladder-Type Carbon Trading

Driven by the goal of“carbon neutrality”and“emission peak”,effectively controlling system carbon emissions has become significantly important to governments around the world.To this end,a novel two-stage low-carbon economic scheduling framework that considers the coordinated optimization of ladder-type carbon trading and integrated demand response(IDR)is proposed in this paper for the integrated energy system(IES),where the first stage determines the energy consumption plan of users by leveraging the price-based electrical-heat IDR.In contrast,the second stage minimizes the system total cost to optimize the outputs of generations with consideration of the uncertainty of renewables.In addition,to fully exploit the system’s emission reduction potential,a carbon trading cost model with segmented CO_(2) emission intervals is built by introducing a reward-penalty ladder-type carbon trading mechanism,and the flexible thermal comfort elasticity of customers is taken into account by putting forward a predicted mean vote index on the load side.The CPLEX optimizer resolves the two-stage model,and the study results on a modified IES situated in North China show the proposed model can effectively reduce carbon emissions and guarantee economical efficiency operation of the system.

Flexible Load Participation in Peaking Shaving and Valley Filling Based on Dynamic Price Incentives

Considering the widening of the peak-valley difference in the power grid and the difficulty of the existing fixed time-of-use electricity price mechanism in meeting the energy demand of heterogeneous users at various moments or motivating users,the design of a reasonable dynamic pricing mechanism to actively engage users in demand response becomes imperative for power grid companies.For this purpose,a power grid-flexible load bilevel model is constructed based on dynamic pricing,where the leader is the dispatching center and the lower-level flexible load acts as the follower.Initially,an upper-level day-ahead dispatching model for the power grid is established,considering the lowest power grid dispatching cost as the objective function and incorporating the power grid-side constraints.Then,the lower level comprehensively considers the load characteristics of industrial load,energy storage,and data centers,and then establishes a lower-level flexible load operation model with the lowest user power-consuming cost as the objective function.Finally,the proposed method is validated using the IEEE-118 system,and the findings indicate that the dynamic pricing mechanism for peaking shaving and valley filling can effectively guide users to respond actively,thereby reducing the peak-valley difference and decreasing users’purchasing costs.

Revenue management method and critical techniques of railway passenger transport

Purpose–Revenue management(RM)is a significant technique to improve revenue with limited resources.With the macro environment of dramatically increasing transit capacity and rapid railway transport development in China,it is necessary to involve the theory of RM into the operation and decision of railway passenger transport.Design/methodology/approach–This paper proposes the theory and framework of generalized RM of railway passenger transport(RMRPT),and the thoughts and methods of the main techniques in RMRPT,involving demand forecasting,line planning,inventory control,pricing strategies and information systems,are all studied and elaborated.The involved methods and techniques provide a sequential process to help with the decision-making for each stage of RMRPT.The corresponding techniques are integrated into the information system to support practical businesses in railway passenger transport.Findings–The combination of the whole techniques devotes to railway benefit improvement and transit resource utilization and has been applied into the practical operation and organization of railway passenger transport.Originality/value–The development of RMRPT would provide theoretical and technical support for the improvement of service quality as well as railway benefits and efficiency.

The Price Model of Aquatic Products Based on Predictive Control Theory

This paper discusses a disequilibrium cobweb model of price of aquatic products, and applies predictive control theory, so that the system operates stably, and the deviation between supply and demand of aquatic products smoothly tracks the pre-given target. It defines the supply and demand change model, and researches the impact of parameter selection in this model on dynamic state and robustness of the system. I conduct simulation by Matlab software, to get the response curve of this model. The results show that in the early period of commodities coming into the market, affected by lack of market information and many other factors, the price fluctuates greatly in a short time. The market will gradually achieve balance between supply and demand over time, and the price fluctuations in the neighbouring two periods are broadly consistent. The increase in model parameter can decrease overshoot, to promote the stability of system, but the slower the dynamic response, the longer the deviation between supply and demand to accurately track a given target. Therefore, by selecting different parameters, the decision-makers can establish different models of supply and demand changes to meet the actual needs, and ensure stable development of market. Simulation results verify the excellent performance of this algorithm.

Quantitative Assessment of the Impact of China's Direct Grain Subsidies on Grain Yield--Based on the Empirical Analysis of Panel Data Pertaining to 29 Provinces in the Period 2004-2007

We build the influence function empirical model of China's grain production at the present stage in view of the factors influencing direct grain subsidies,using Cobb-Douglas production function model.And we estimate the elasticity coefficient of impact of China's direct grain subsidies on grain yield,using the panel data pertaining to 29 provinces in the period 2004-2007;comparatively analyze the validity and limitation of policy factors of direct grain subsidies on China's grain yield.The results show that at the present stage,the elasticity coefficient of impact of China's direct grain subsidies on grain yield is 0.002 3,and under the existing subsidy system and level,direct grain subsidies play a positive role in increasing grain yield,but the role is limited;the elasticity coefficient of impact of the food price on grain yield is much larger than that of impact of direct grain subsidies on grain yield.Therefore,the government should strengthen and improve direct grain subsidy policies;in the mean time,pay full attention to the use of market mechanism to consolidate the basic role of the food price in promoting food security to a great extent.

Price Discrimination of Film Products and Building of Hierarchical Market under the Background of “Internet Plus”

Price Discrimination of film products is theoretically feasible and logically inevitable, and it has been used for a long time in film industry as well. However, there are practical paradoxes in the new environment due to market factors like popularization of Internet environment and Online to Offline(O2O) retailers between hierarchical markets. Compared with high-level markets, low-level markets are lack of conditions for differentiated lower price like cinema infrastructure, and environment for film consumption market, so that the consumption potential for market has not been motivated yet. Therefore, it is quite important to pay close attention to how to expand the market by clearer gradient pricing structures and Internet platform.

Study on Demand Response of Residential Power Customer

In order to optimize the ladder-pricing scheme in Shanghai, we present a multi-objective optimization model (MOOM). To build this model, first we use price elasticity theory;divide the ladder pricing into peak electricity bill and valley electricity bill in the time dimension to model the single-user demand response. Second based on the single-user demand response model, combined with the overall users’ electricity distribution density function, we build an all-users demand response model. The proposed model has two objectives: minimize energy consumption and maximize residents’ satisfaction. Simulation results confirm that the proposed model can optimize the ladder-pricing scheme.

How Load Aggregators Avoid Risks in Spot Electricity Market:In the Framework of Power Consumption Right Option Contracts

There is uncertainty in the electricity price of spot electricity market,which makes load aggregators undertake price risks for their agent users.In order to allow load aggregators to reduce the spot market price risk,scholars have proposed many solutions,such as improving the declaration decision-making model,signing power mutual insurance contracts,and adding energy storage and mobilizing demand-side resources to respond.In terms of demand side,calling flexible demand-side resources can be considered as a key solution.The user’s power consumption rights(PCRs)are core contents of the demand-side resources.However,there have been few studies on the pricing of PCR contracts and transaction decisions to solve the problem of price forecast deviation and to manage the uncertainty of spot market prices.In addition,in traditional PCR contracts,PCRs are mostly priced using a single price mechanism,that is,the power user is compensated for part of the electricity that was interrupted or reduced in power supply.However,some power users might engage in speculative behaviours under this mechanism.Further,for load aggregators,their price risk avoidance ability has not substantially improved.As a financial derivative,options can solve the above problems.In this article,firstly,the option method is used to build an option pricing optimization model for power consumption right contracts that can calculate the optimal option premium and strike price of option contracts of power consumption rights.Secondly,from the perspective of power users and load aggregators,a simulation model of power consumption right transaction decision-making is constructed.The results of calculation examples show that(1)Under the model in this article,the pricing of option contracts for power consumption rights with better risk aversion capabilities than traditional compensation contracts can be obtained.(2)The decision to sell or purchase the power consumption rights will converge at respective highvalue periods,and option contracts will expedite the process.(3)Option contracts can significantly reduce the loss caused by the uncertainty of spot electricity prices for load aggregators without reducing users’willingness to sell power consumption rights.

Demand Elasticity of Capacity Offered for Urban Rail Transport

The high peak hour demand in Urban Rail Transport (URT) is usually met by supply side measures such as pushing more number of trains/cars in peak hour by the operator. This additional capacity generates more demand due to a positive elasticity of demand with respect to services. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), India has converted its fleet from 4 cars per train to 6 cars per train and finally to 8 cars per train on its Broad Gauge section. The ridership of the system has also witnessed double digit growth during this conversion period. The demand elasticity w.r.t services for the passengers of DMRC has been estimated as 0.512 on the basis of growth of demand and increase in capacity after adjusting for natural growth. So a 10% increase in supply results into 5% increase in capacity. A simple service elasticity model has been developed to estimate demand with increase in supply. The model has been applied to Line 2 (yellow line), the busiest line of DMRC, to estimate the demand for different level of services (trains/hour). The efficacy of supply side measures is limited by the design capacity of the system beyond which any increase in supply would require disproportionate investment. An optimum combination of supply and demand side measures would perhaps be the best way to address peak hour congestion in Urban Rail Transport.

Analysis of the current situation and demand of green food industry in China

With the high-speed development of economy in China, people require higher and higher quality of food, and accidents of food safety in recent years have been reported, causing the promotion of consumption demand on green food. The paper firstly investigates the current situation of green food industry at home and abroad, then focuses on the analysis of the demand of green food market. We study the balance between the green food and the per capita disposable income in short and long term, through vector auto regression model and co-integration analysis on the income elasticity of demand. The paper shows that, the relationship between green food consumption and per capita disposable income is "bullwhip effect", which means that the per capita disposable income have a significant role to the green food sales in the short term, but no stable co-integration relationship in the long term.

Mathematical model of the adjustment of the optimal price of the substituting commodity

In this paper, from the two economic concepts of the price elasticity of demand and the cross elasticity of demand, under the assumption that the operator＇s management goal is to obtain the profit maximization, the author established the mathematical model of the adjustment of the optimal price of the substituting commodity.