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In the paper the market model for balancing communication bandwidth trade (BCBT) is analyzed in the form of multi-commodity market data model (M3). The distinguishing feature of BCBT model is that it assumes that market players can place buy offers not only for isolated network resources – inter-node links, but also for end-to-end network paths of predefined capacity, that is, every offer concerns a point-to-point bandwidth connection between a pair of specified locations in a communication network. The model enables effective balancing of sell and buy offers for network resources in a way which maximizes global economic welfare. The open multi-commodity market data model provides efficient and clear mechanisms, which support the environment of auctions and multi-commodity exchanges, especially when the trade is constrained by the infrastructure resources. Thus the model may be used in designing open information systems for market balancing and clearing in the context of multicommodity trade in various network infrastructure sectors.

On the energy markets, conscious customers may exist who are not only interested in minimising the cost of energy purchase, but, simultaneously, in optimising some other quality criteria (arising from ecological concerns, or social responsibility of the energy producers). In this paper, we develop both a mathematical optimisation problem and a market framework for balancing a power system in a peer-to-peer market setup, where product differentiation can be considered directly on the market. Thus, origins of energy may be clearly identified, and product quality characteristics can be understood by various actors (including households). We derive a multi-objective (mixed-integer) linear programming optimisation problem for balancing the energy system in a peer-to-peer energy trading environment, where not only the cost but also other additional quality criteria are considered. We have identified many possible actors to be present within the proposed market setup. They include consumers, producers, brokers and flexible prosumers with storage. The approach was tested on the IEEE 30-bus standard test system, over three different scenarios, by analysing the impact of various actors/peers activities and different extensions. It has been shown that a multi-objective energy balancing scheme may be developed through crafted optimisation problem and that each type of studied peers may bring some added value to the power system balancing.

Milk-run is a cyclic material delivery system, that aims to increase the efficiency of transportation and supply chain considering the lean logistics aspect. There are two types of milk-run systems in the literature: supplier and in-plant milk-run. The in-plant milk-run system, which has attracted increasing attention with the Industry 4.0 concept, is applied to manage the delivery process of materials from the warehouse to the assembly stations in plants. This system can be implemented using Autonomous Vehicles (AV), which provide automated material handling. However, a challenging problem appears in determining milk-run routes and periods simultaneously for each AV. Furthermore, this problem becomes more difficult in the presence of assembly stations with buffer stock constraints requiring multi-commodity pickup and delivery demands. In this study, the Simulated Annealing algorithm was used due to the Np-Hard nature of the problem. Hence, we generated test instances to show the performance of the proposed algorithm. It is seen that the proposed algorithm is efficient in terms of computational times as well as determining both milk-run routes and periods.

The crew rostering problem arises in public transport bus companies, and addresses the task of assigning a given set of anonymous duties and some other activities, such as standbys and days off, to drivers or groups of drivers, without violating any complex labor union rules. In addition, the preferences of drivers are considered during the assignment. The plan generated for each driver/group of drivers is called a roster. Optimal rosters are characterized by maximum satisfaction of drivers and minimal operational costs. To generate a personalized roster for each driver/group of drivers, the problem is formulated as a multi-commodity network flow problem in this paper. In each network layer, a roster is generated for each driver or driver group. The network model is very flexible and can accommodate a variety of constraints. In addition, with a minor modification, the network can formulate the cyclic and non-cyclic crew rostering problems. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first publication which solves both problems with one model. The main goal of this paper is to develop a mixed-integer mathematical optimization network model for both problems with sequential and integrated approaches and to solve this model using commercial solvers. Both problems are usually solved with the sequential approach. Therefore, another contribution of this paper is comparing the sequential approach with the integrated one. Our experiments on real-world instances show that the integrated approach outperforms the sequential one in terms of solution quality.

The quality of life for ordinary Roman citizens at the height of the Roman Empire probably was better than that of any other large group of people living before the Industrial Revolution.The Roman Market Economyuses the tools of modern economics to show how trade, markets, and the Pax Romana were critical to ancient Rome's prosperity. Peter Temin, one of the world's foremost economic historians, argues that markets dominated the Roman economy. He traces how the Pax Romana encouraged trade around the Mediterranean, and how Roman law promoted commerce and banking. Temin shows that a reasonably vibrant market for wheat extended throughout the empire, and suggests that the Antonine Plague may have been responsible for turning the stable prices of the early empire into the persistent inflation of the late. He vividly describes how various markets operated in Roman times, from commodities and slaves to the buying and selling of land. Applying modern methods for evaluating economic growth to data culled from historical sources, Temin argues that Roman Italy in the second century was as prosperous as the Dutch Republic in its golden age of the seventeenth century. The Roman Market Economyreveals how economics can help us understand how the Roman Empire could have ruled seventy million people and endured for centuries.

Organized crime is spreading like a global virus as mobs take advantage of open borders to establish local franchises at will. That at least is the fear, inspired by stories of Russian mobsters in New York, Chinese triads in London, and Italian mafias throughout the West.

Why has capitalism produced economic growth that so vastly dwarfs the growth record of other economic systems, past and present? Why have living standards in countries from America to Germany to Japan risen exponentially over the past century? William Baumol rejects the conventional view that capitalism benefits society through price competition--that is, products and services become less costly as firms vie for consumers. Where most others have seen this as the driving force behind growth, he sees something different--a compound of systematic innovation activity within the firm, an arms race in which no firm in an innovating industry dares to fall behind the others in new products and processes, and inter-firm collaboration in the creation and use of innovations. While giving price competition due credit, Baumol stresses that large firms use innovation as a prime competitive weapon. However, as he explains it, firms do not wish to risk too much innovation, because it is costly, and can be made obsolete by rival innovation. So firms have split the difference through the sale of technology licenses and participation in technology-sharing compacts that pay huge dividends to the economy as a whole--and thereby made innovation a routine feature of economic life. This process, in Baumol's view, accounts for the unparalleled growth of modern capitalist economies. Drawing on extensive research and years of consulting work for many large global firms, Baumol shows in this original work that the capitalist growth process, at least in societies where the rule of law prevails, comes far closer to the requirements of economic efficiency than is typically understood. Resounding with rare intellectual force, this book marks a milestone in the comprehension of the accomplishments of our free-market economic system--a new understanding that, suggests the author, promises to benefit many countries that lack the advantages of this immense innovation machine.

As OPEC has loosened its grip over the past ten years, the oil market has been rocked by wild price swings, the likes of which haven't been seen for eight decades. Crafting an engrossing journey from the gushing Pennsylvania oil fields of the 1860s to today's fraught and fractious Middle East,Crude Volatilityexplains how past periods of stability and volatility in oil prices help us understand the new boom-bust era. Oil's notorious volatility has always been considered a scourge afflicting not only the oil industry but also the broader economy and geopolitical landscape; Robert McNally makes sense of how oil became so central to our world and why it is subject to such extreme price fluctuations. Tracing a history marked by conflict, intrigue, and extreme uncertainty, McNally shows how-even from the oil industry's first years-wild and harmful price volatility prompted industry leaders and officials to undertake extraordinary efforts to stabilize oil prices by controlling production. Herculean market interventions-first, by Rockefeller's Standard Oil, then, by U.S. state regulators in partnership with major international oil companies, and, finally, by OPEC-succeeded to varying degrees in taming the beast. McNally, a veteran oil market and policy expert, explains the consequences of the ebbing of OPEC's power, debunking myths and offering recommendations-including mistakes to avoid-as we confront the unwelcome return of boom and bust oil prices.

The Essential Hirschmanbrings together some of the finest essays in the social sciences, written by one of the twentieth century's most influential and provocative thinkers. Albert O. Hirschman was a master essayist, one who possessed the rare ability to blend the precision of economics with the elegance of literary imagination. In an age in which our academic disciplines require ever-greater specialization and narrowness, it is rare to encounter an intellectual who can transform how we think about inequality by writing about traffic, or who can slip in a quote from Flaubert to reveal something surprising about taxes. The essays gathered here span an astonishing range of topics and perspectives, including industrialization in Latin America, imagining reform as more than repair, the relationship between imagination and leadership, routine thinking and the marketplace, and the ways our arguments affect democratic life. Throughout, we find humor, unforgettable metaphors, brilliant analysis, and elegance of style that give Hirschman such a singular voice. Featuring an introduction by Jeremy Adelman that places each of these essays in context as well as an insightful afterword by Emma Rothschild and Amartya Sen,The Essential Hirschmanis the ideal introduction to Hirschman for a new generation of readers and a must-have collection for anyone seeking his most important writings in one book.

A powerful movement is happening in farming today--farmers are reconnecting with their roots to fight climate change.For one woman, that's meant learning her tribe's history to help bring back the buffalo.For another, it's meant preserving forest purchased by her great-great-uncle, among the first wave of African Americans to buy land.