Negotiating over Bundles and Prices Using Aggregate Knowledge

Combining two or more items and selling them as one good, a practice called bundling, can be a very effective strategy for reducing the costs of producing, marketing, and selling goods. In this paper, we consider a form of multi-issue negotiation where a shop negotiates both the contents and the price of bundles of goods with his customers. We present some key insights about, as well as a technique for, locating mutually beneficial alternatives to the bundle currently under negotiation. The essence of our approach lies in combining historical sales data, condensed into aggregate knowledge, with current data about the ongoing negotiation process, to exploit these insights. In particular, when negotiating a given bundle of goods with a customer, the shop analyzes the sequence of the customer's offers to determine the progress in the negotiation process. In addition, it uses aggregate knowledge concerning customers' valuations of goods in general. We show how the shop can use these two sources of data to locate promising alternatives to the current bundle. When the current negotiation's progress slows down, the shop may suggest the most promising of those alternatives and, depending on the customer's response, continue negotiating about the alternative bundle, or propose another alternative. Extensive computer simulation experiments show that our approach increases the speed with which deals are reached, as well as the number and quality of the deals reached, as compared to a benchmark. In addition, we show that the performance of our system is robust to a variety of changes in the negotiation strategies employed by the customers.Comment: 15 pages, 7 eps figures, Springer llncs documentclass. Extended version of the paper published in "E-Commerce and Web Technologies," Kurt Bauknecht, Martin Bichler and Birgit Pr\"{o}ll (eds.). Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 3182, Berlin: Springer, p. 218--22

Teachers and 1:1 technology in classroom activities: A quantitative study comparing perceptions and stage of adoption

This quantitative research study examined high school teachers’ perceptions concerning the incorporation of 1:1 technology into classroom activities. The study collected data from teachers at rural, southeastern high schools with 1:1 technology programs. Data were collected from teachers via an online survey. The Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989; Marangunic & Granic, 2015) was used as a basis for examining teachers’ incorporation of 1:1 technology into class work. Teachers’ adoption of the technology into pedagogy was analyzed to determine if relationships exist between level of adoption, perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, organizational factors, and teacher characteristics. Identification of relationships provided insights that may inform future decision-making about 1:1 technology integration into curricula and pedagogy, allowing opportunities for interventions that might influence adoption

Online Learning of Aggregate Knowledge about Non-linear Preferences Applied to Negotiating Prices and Bundles

In this paper, we consider a form of multi-issue negotiation where a shop negotiates both the contents and the price of bundles of goods with his customers. We present some key insights about, as well as a procedure for, locating mutually beneficial alternatives to the bundle currently under negotiation. The essence of our approach lies in combining aggregate (anonymous) knowledge of customer preferences with current data about the ongoing negotiation process. The developed procedure either works with already obtained aggregate knowledge or, in the absence of such knowledge, learns the relevant information online. We conduct computer experiments with simulated customers that have_nonlinear_ preferences. We show how, for various types of customers, with distinct negotiation heuristics, our procedure (with and without the necessary aggregate knowledge) increases the speed with which deals are reached, as well as the number and the Pareto efficiency of the deals reached compared to a benchmark.Comment: 10 pages, 5 eps figures, ACM Proceedings documentclass, Published in "Proc. 6th Int'l Conf. on Electronic Commerce ICEC04, Delft, The Netherlands," M. Janssen, H. Sol, R. Wagenaar (eds.). ACM Pres

Assessment of the Impact of Effluent from a Soft Drink Processing Factory on the Physico-Chemical Parameters of Eruvbi Stream Benin City, Nigeria

An investigation of the impact of industrial effluent discharged into Eruvbi stream was carried out in the wet season months of March to August, 2009. Water samples from three selected points in the stream were analysed for temperature, total dissolved solids, turbidity, pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total alkalinity, chloride, hardness, calcium, magnesium and nitrate. Samples were collected at three sites, designated as station 1 (upstream of effluent discharge point), station 2 (effluent discharge point) and station 3 (downstream of effluent discharge point). Water temperature, turbidity, alkalinity, hardness, calcium and magnesium were found to be significantly higher at the discharge point (Station 2). The parameters when compared with Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) limit for discharge into Nigeria surface waters and WHO guidelines, turbidity in stations 2 and 3 were found to exceed the maximum allowable limit (5NTU) while dissolved oxygen level at all stations were lower than the minimum allowable limit (5mg/L) for aquatic life. All other physiochemical parameters including biochemical oxygen demand were below the recommended limits in all stations. This physico-chemical regime is an indication of the deteriorating water quality of the stream at the discharge point and downstream due to the effluent inflow. Keywords: Benin City, Industrial effluent, Physicochemical, Stream, Water qualit

Dynamics of Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa: A P-ARDL Model Approach

This study empirically examined the long- and short-run dynamics of agricultural productivity in 37 selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa between 1990 and 2016 employing the recent Panel Auto Regressive Distributed Lag model. The model estimate revealed a cointegrating but no short-run significant relationship between agricultural output and the independent variables. The Cobb-Douglass production function thus supports long-run but not short-run estimation of agricultural production in this region during the reviewed period. The study found that labour and the real exchange rate have a positive and significant long-run influence on agricultural productivity while capital, degree of openness and per-capita income exhibit a negative but significant relationship with such productivity. The negative and significant Error Correction Term value showed that all the variables move towards long-run stability at a slow annual speed of adjustment of 29.2%; the influence of the independent variables thus enhances agricultural productivity in the long run. Based on these findings, the formulation and implementation of effective macroeconomic policies are recommended to stabilize the exchange rate, encourage exports, optimally utilize capital, and enhance infrastructure provision with a view to boosting agricultural productivity to stimulate economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa

Učinak produktivnosti ljudskog potencijala visokog obrazovanja u odabranim zemljama Sub-saharske Afrike

(HEE), higher education output (HEO) and the associated productivity gap (GP) on selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the period between 1981 and 2014. It was hypothesized in the study that HEE and HEO had statistically significant positive impact on productivity in the selected sub-Saharan Africa countries over the stated period. Fixed effect Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDV) and a robust version of System Generalized Methods of Moment (SYSGMM) were adopted as model estimating techniques. Results from the LSDV model indicated that HEE had no statistically significant positive impact on productivity growth in the twenty-one SSA countries. This non-significance was corrected in the dynamic model, but with negative effects on the growth rate of total factor productivity (TFP). The study further compared the worldwide technological frontier with those of the SSA countries under investigation and discovered that countries like Gabon, Mauritius and Swaziland ranked high, while Burundi needs to improve on its productivity determinants. The major conclusion of this study is therefore that higher education human capital should be supported with strong policy implementation, as this can have a positive impact on productivity growth.(HEE), rezultate visokog obrazovanja (HEO) i povezanog jaza produktivnosti (GP) u odabranim zemljama u sub-saharskoj Africi (SSA) u razdoblju od 1981. do 2014. godine. U istraživanju se polazi od hipoteze da HEE i HEO imaju statistički značajan pozitivan utjecaj na produktivnost u odabranim zemljama sub-saharske Afrike u navedenom razdoblju. LSDV model fiksnih učinaka (Least Square Dummy Variable) i robusna verzija sustava generalizirane metode momenata (SYS GMM) usvojene su kao tehnike procjene modela. Rezultati dobiveni primjenom LSDV modela pokazuju da upisi na visokoobrazovne ustanove nemaju statistički značajan utjecaj na rast produktivnosti u dvadeset i jednoj zemlji sub-saharske Afrike. Ovaj manjak statističke značajnosti ispravljen je u dinamičkom modelu, ali s negativnim učincima na stopu rasta ukupne faktorske produktivnosti (TFP). Istraživanje je nadalje uspoređivalo svjetsku tehnološku granicu s istraživanjima zemalja SSA i ustanovilo da su zemlje poput Gabona, Mauricijusa i Svazi visoko rangirane, dok Burundi treba poboljšati svoje determinante produktivnosti. Glavni zaključak ovog istraživanja je stoga da se ljudski kapital visokog obrazovanja treba podržati snažnom provedbom politike, jer to može imati pozitivan utjecaj na rast produktivnosti

A Comparative Analysis of Effects of Education on Sub-Saharan Africa's Economic Growth

This study aims to analyze and to compare the effects of various levels of education on the economic growth of some selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) between 1980 and 2015.It is hypothesized in the study that various levels of education have significant positive impacts on the economic growth of some selected sub-Saharan Africa countries over the stated period. Fixed effect Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDV) and a robust version of System Generalized Methods of Moment (SYSGMM) are adopted as model estimating techniques. Results from the LSDV model indicate increasing positive impacts of various levels of education on the economic growth of the thirty selected SSA countries. This trend of significance is corrected in the dynamic model, but with negative effects on the lower levels of education on growth while higher education output which negatively impacted on growth is reversed. The study systematically compares the effects of education on growth when higher education is included and when it is excluded both at the enrolment and output level in the regression model. We found different results at each instance for the various levels. Therefore, the major conclusion of this study is that higher education human capital at the output level appears to be the most significant of all the levels of education. However, this advantage enjoyed by higher education could have been as a result of cumulative effects from other levels of education over time. We, therefore, conclude that higher education should be supported with strong education policy implementation, as this could have a positive impact on SSA economic growth

Understanding the Theory of Consumption in the Context of a Developing Economy

This paper synthesizes the theory of consumption using some Nigerian contexts. The argument on what determines consumption is yet an unfinished task. We tested the general consumption function using Nigerian data covering 1981-2012. Based on the diagnostics, we employed a vector autoregression-in-first difference approach. The result shows that previous incomes (up to two lags) may not be significant in influencing consumption in Nigeria but previous consumption levels (up to two lags) attained may do. In addition, consumers in Nigeria may reduce their consumption in the current year based on their knowledge of previous year consumption but may raise the current consumption level  due to their experience of last    two years consumption. This corroborates suggestions that macro-econometricians must analyze consumption beyond the general consumption function. The pattern of historical data also suggests that consumption may be difficult to predict in Nigeria. Therefore, government of Nigeria may succeed in influencing its aggregate demand which consumption is the major component if its income and tax policies are permanent, rather than being temporary

Bundling and pricing for information brokerage: customer satisfaction as a means to profit optimization

Traditionally, the study of on-line dynamic pricing and bundling strategies for information goods is motivated by the value-extracting or profit-generating potential of these strategies. In this paper we discuss the relatively overlooked potential of these strategies to on-line learn more about customers' preferences. Based on this enhanced customer knowledge an information broker can-- by tailoring the brokerage services more to the demand of the various customer groups-- persuade customers to engage in repeated transactions (i.e., generate customer lock-in). To illustrate the discussion, we show by means of a basic consumer model how, with the use of on-line dynamic bundling and pricing algorithms, customer lock-in can occur. The lock-in occurs because the algorithms can both find appropriate prices and (from the customers' perspective) the most interesting bundles. In the conducted computer experiments we use an advanced genetic algorithm with a niching method to learn the most interesting bundles efficiently and effectively