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Consider n servers having different exponential service distributions. All servers are initially busy and there are m customers waiting in queue in an ordered line. A server becoming idle is offered to the first in line, if rejected it is then offered to the second, and so on. The objective of each person in line is to minimize their expected time until service completion. We give a simple approach for finding the optimal policy and also show that this policy also minimizes the expected sum of the times the customers spend in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We analyze the problem of a jury that must rank a set of contestants whose socially optimal ranking is common knowledge among jurors who may have friends among the contestants and may, therefore, be biased in their friends' favor. We show a natural mechanism that is finite and complete informational, with no simultaneous moves (i.e., it is solvable by backward induction), which implements the socially optimal ranking with subgame perfect equilibria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High unemployment is widely regarded as the most important challenge facing European policy-makers today. At unemployment rates of between 6.5% and 25% across the countries of the Union, Europe's performance compares particularly unfavourably with that of the United States. But does this answer for an inability to understand the fundamental causes of the problem, being them economic, social or political or a failure to find the economic policies that will solve it? Or is there merely a lack of political will in the social system application? Is 'social dumping' still present under a common EU social policy of the Lisbon Treaty and if so, which is its 'face 'now? Is social dumping to be welcomed, as a healthy energy which will oblige countries to lighten the excessive and harmful regulations imposed on EU labour markets? How should the circumstances of the new EU member states be taken into account when applying labour legislation concerning social policy and when tackling unemployment? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study the social desirability of the structure regulation which transforms a single multi-product monopoly into an oligopoly where the industry produces differentiated complementary goods. In particular, we pay special attention to the cross-subsidization which will be eliminated by the structure regulation. It is established that if horizontal externalities between the goods are not too strong, then the monopoly has a socially optimal price structure. In contrast, the oligopoly always distorts the price structure. We also demonstrate that the monopoly will cross-subsidize a product if and only if this product has a relatively low absolute advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize several dimensions of product-price knowledge and to develop measurement variables that qualify a person's product-price knowledge. Assuming product-price knowledge is a multidimensional construct, the relationship between its dimensions is to be investigated and consumer characteristics are to be analyzed according to whether they influence these dimensions. Design/methodology/approach - Drawing on existing research, the paper theoretically develops a framework that proposes a taxonomy of product-price knowledge and leads to a road map to identify determinants that probably affect a person's product-price knowledge. Applying data on 319 shoppers, a path model simultaneously estimates the internal structure of the specified dimensions of product-price knowledge, and determines the influence of the selected consumer characteristics on product-price knowledge. Findings - The proposed taxonomy sees product-price knowledge as encompassing not just isomorphic prices, i.e. actually or formerly perceived and recalled prices. Rather, inferential prices, such as the normal price, or the upper reservation price for a product, as well as knowledge about price-setting conditions and confidence in memorized prices, comprise important elements of a person's product-price knowledge. As a result, there are several measurement variables to qualify a person's product-price knowledge. The empirical results identify price mavenism, price consciousness, the use of a shopping list, and shopping frequency, as determinants of the accuracy and size of, and confidence in, one's product-price knowledge, even though the impact structure is not uniform. There are some indications that formerly encountered price stimuli represent a relatively obsolete part of a consumer's product-price knowledge. Research limitations/implications - Research on product-price knowledge should not be restricted to measuring the accuracy of recalled paid prices. Size of product-price knowledge, and confidence in one's price knowledge, are identified as measures that are at least equally important to qualify a person's product-price knowledge as accuracy. Furthermore, size and confidence are also additional dependent variables in analyzing determinants of consumers' product-price knowledge. This is important for researchers and practitioners. Originality/value - The proposed taxonomy and the empirical results lead to finer grained understanding of product-price knowledge as a multi-dimensional construct and its determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of price bundling and message framing on attitudes, intentions, and beliefs about attributes of teeth whitening products. Although each of these variables, message framing and price bundling, has been explored individually, few attempts have been made to investigate them jointly. This study is based on a full factorial design that allows for testing of interaction effects. Second, the market for whitening products is maturing, resulting in a target market that is gaining knowledge about these products. Thus, we use knowledge as a covariate in the above investigation to determine if the communication strategy should be changed as the product moves from introduction to maturity. Design/methodology/approach - The study is based on a 2 × 2 factorial design with price bundling (bundle price - individual price) and framing (positive - negative). The setting for the study is a hypothetical brand name of teeth whitening products. Findings - The results reveal a mixed picture with respect to effectiveness of pricing and framing on attitudes and intentions. The effect of price bundling is not significant on attitudes; it is significant on intentions. Framing has a greater impact on intentions than on attitudes. Nevertheless, the interaction effects are significant on both attitudes as well as intentions. Finally, the impact of knowledge as a covariate is significant. Research limitations/implications - Caution is advised in extrapolating the results beyond the issues investigated in the study. Practical implications - The findings help marketers in formulating effective marketing strategy using both price bundling and message framing strategies. Originality/value - Although price bundling and message framing have been explored in marketing studies, the research is lacking on the combined effects of these two important variables. The findings show a significant interaction effect of pricing and framing on changing attitudes and intentions. Prior research recommends using negative framing. The present research shows that for bundle products, a positive framing approach is desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]