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**************************** Special Date *****************************
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                                                          Seminar
              Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management
                                   The Chinese University of Hong Kong

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Title        : Multiple-Item Dynamic Pricing under a Common Pricing

Constraint

Speaker   : Ms. Binbin Liu
                  University of Toronto

Date         : January 8th, 2007 (Monday)
Time        : 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Venue      : Room 513
                  MMW Engineering Building(Engineering Building Complex Phase 2)
                  CUHK

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Abstract:

We study how firms should dynamically price multiple items when by
convention they are required to maintain a common price. We define the
problem and present the structure of the optimal policy of the problem in
its most general form. We then develop the optimal policy to the
deterministic version of the problem, which is an n-segment pricing policy.
We also study a case where only limited price change is allowed for the
stochastic problem assuming prices are given and show that a threshold
policy holds. These restricted problems give us insight into the optimal
solution of the general stochastic problem and enable us to establish a
dynamic threshold policy that can effectively solve the problem. This
dynamic threshold policy significantly dominates static policies, and the
value in inventory differentiating is also revealed.

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Biography:

Ms. Binbin Liu is a Ph.D. candidate in Operation Management at Rotman School
of Management, University of Toronto. Her research interests include revenue
management, dynamic pricing, supply chain management, spatial pricing,
competitive pricing and location. She got her M.S. degree in management
science from Peking University, and served as an analyst in a consulting
firm in Beijing before joining U of T. She expects to get her Ph.D. degree
in summer 2007.

************************* ALL ARE WELCOME ************************

Host        : Professor Li, Duan
Tel           : (852) 2609-8323
Email       : dli@se.cuhk.edu.hk

Enquiries  : Bolin Ding or Jeffrey Xu Yu,
                  Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management
                 CUHK
Website   : http://www.se.cuhk.edu.hk/~seg5810
Email       : seg5810@se.cuhk.edu.hk

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