A tâtonnement process with fading memory,stabilization and optimal speed of convergence

The purpose of this work is to provide a way to improve stability and convergence rate of a price adjustment mechanism that converges to a Walrasian equilibrium. We focus on a discrete tâtonnement based on a two-agent, two-good exchange economy, and we introduce memory, assuming that the auctioneer adjusts prices not only using the current excess demand, but also making use of the past excess demand functions. In particular, we study the effect of computing a weighted average of the current and the previous excess demands (finite two level memory) and of all the previous excess demands (infinite memory). We show that suitable weights’ distributions have a stabilizing effect, so that the resulting price adjustment process converge toward the competitive equilibrium in a wider range of situations than the process without memory. Finally, we investigate the convergence speed toward the equilibrium of the proposed mechanisms. In particular, we show that using infinite memory with fading weights approaches the competitive equilibrium faster than with a distribution of quasi-uniform weights.     

Optimal electricity generation portfolios

It is common practice to base investment decisions on price projections which are gained from simulations using price processes. The choice of the underlying process is crucial for the simulation outcome. For power plants the core question is the existence of stable long-term cointegration relations. Therefore we investigate the impacts of different ways to model price movements in a portfolio selection model for the German electricity market. Three different approaches of modelling fuel prices are compared: initially, all prices are modelled as correlated random walks. Thereafter the coal price is modelled as random walk. The gas price follows the coal price through a mean-reversion process. Lastly, all prices are modelled as mean reversion processes with correlated residuals. The prices of electricity base and peak futures are simulated using historical correlations with gas and coal prices. Yearly base and peak prices are transformed into an estimated price duration curve followed by the steps power plant dispatch, operational margin and net present value calculation and finally the portfolio selection. The analysis shows that the chosen price process assumptions have significant impacts on the resulting portfolio structure and the weights of individual technologies.     

中国玉米期货市场价格发现功能的实证分析

利用相关系数、协整检验、格兰杰因果检验以及GS模型等方法对大连期货交易所玉米期货市场的发现价格功能进行了实证分析.结果表明:玉米期货价格与现货价格之间存在协整关系,期货价格具有良好的发现价格功能;存在期货价格和现货价格的双向格兰杰引导关系;玉米期货市场的发现价格功能中期货价格起着决定性的作用.     

Economic planning with institutional price constraints for a decentralized economy

This paper describes the relationship between market prices and shadow prices when the economy has general types of institutional price constraints. We consider a decentralized linear economy where market prices quide the decentralized behavior of each activity and the shadow prices measure the social values of resources. To measure the social values, we introduce a social objective criterion. Hence, our approach could be regarded as a central economic price control with institutional price constraints for a decentralized economy. A simple example is employed to graphically illustrate the wedges between market prices and shadow prices. It has been shown that our problem can be solved through mixed integer linear programming techniques.     

Shadow price principles applied to regulated pricing of natural gas

Inclusion of the shadow prices for natural gas in a dynamic fuels model for the United States shows that the primary reason for the relatively large, fly-up in new marginal gas prices in the early 1980's was the release of the pent-up price effects of the U.S. government's price regulations. In accordance with principles, the shadow price of natural gas fell siginificantly following de-regulation of the highcost gas (section 107) in 1980, which represented the precursor for downward adjustments in marginal wellhead prices of new high-cost gas and drilling activity. The modeling results show that no significant fly-up in new marginal gas prices for lower-cost gas (section 102) is likely to occur in 1985, when its phased de-regulation ends and it is finally de-regulated, because no shadow price precursor currently exists for this gas. Shadow price principles clear up the primary misconceptions with regard to natural gas pricing. This application indicates the significance of shadow price principles for regulated pricing in general.     

Estimation of risk-neutral density surfaces

Option price data is often used to infer risk-neutral densities for future prices of an underlying asset. Given the prices of a set of options on the same underlying asset with different strikes and maturities, we propose a nonparametric approach for estimating risk-neutral densities associated with several maturities. Our method uses bicubic splines in order to achieve the desired smoothness for the estimation and an optimization model to choose the spline functions that best fit the price data. Semidefinite programming is employed to guarantee the nonnegativity of the densities. We illustrate the process using synthetic option price data generated using log-normal and absolute diffusion processes as well as actual price data for options on the S&P 500 index. We also used the risk-neutral densities that we computed to price exotic options and observed that this approach generates prices that closely approximate the market prices of these options.     

Distributed Price Adjustment Based on Convex Analysis

In this paper, we suggest a distributed process of price adjustment toward a partial market equilibrium. As the main contribution, our algorithm of price adjustment is computationally efficient and decentralized. Its convergence properties are crucially based on convex analysis. The proposed price adjustment corresponds to a subgradient scheme for minimizing a special nonsmooth convex function. This function is the total excessive revenue of the market’s participants and its minimizers are equilibrium prices. As the main result, the algorithm of price adjustment is shown to converge to equilibrium prices. Additionally, the market clears on average during the price adjustment process, i.e., by historical averages of supply and demand. Moreover, a global rate of convergence is obtained. We endow our algorithm with decentralized prices by introducing the trade design with price initiative of producers. The latter suggests that producers settle and update their individual prices, and consumers buy at the lowest purchase price.     

Deep learning for energy markets

Deep Learning (DL) is combined with extreme value theory (EVT) to predict peak loads observed in energy grids. Forecasting energy loads and prices is challenging due to sharp peaks and troughs that arise due to supply and demand fluctuations from intraday system constraints. We propose a deep temporal extreme value model to capture these effects, which predicts the tail behavior of load spikes. Deep long‐short‐term memory architectures with rectified linear unit activation functions capture trends and temporal dependencies, while EVT captures highly volatile load spikes above a prespecified threshold. To illustrate our methodology, we develop forecasting models for hourly price and demand from the PJM interconnection. The goal is to show that DL‐EVT outperforms traditional methods, both in‐ and out‐of‐sample, by capturing the observed nonlinearities in prices and demand spikes. Finally, we conclude with directions for future research.     

外汇市场、股票市场与房地产市场的风险传染研究——基于三元VAR-BEKK-GARCH模型实证分析

本文将人民币汇率、房价和股价三者纳入一个统一的分析框架中,从水平变动和波动风险两个方面考虑时变异方差和变量间的风险传递效应,使用“二次汇改”后的2010年6月到2017年12月的月度数据,采用三元GARCH和BEKK时序模型研究人民币汇率、房价和股价之间的动态影响关系及其波动风险互动机制。研究发现,三个市场相互之间具有明显的影响,特别是价格波动的风险传染上,房地产市场与股票之间、股票市场与汇率市场之间或长期或短期都存在风险的传递效应。具体而言,市场在均值溢出方面,人民币升值会促进房价和股价的上涨;但房价与股价之间的价格影响关系并不明显。在波动溢出方面,房价和股价之间的波动溢出效应明显,同时存在ARCH和GARCH型波动效应,而股价对汇率的波动影响也同时存在ARCH和GARCH型波动效应,但汇率对股价仅有GARCH型波动效应。     

Reverse bullwhip effect in pricing

Price variability is one of the major causes of the bullwhip effect. This paper analyzes the impact of procurement price variability in the upstream of a supply chain on the downstream retail prices. Procurement prices may fluctuate over time, for example, when the supply chain players deploy auction type procurement mechanisms, or if the prices are dictated in market exchanges. A game theory framework is used here to model a serial supply chain. Sequential price game scenarios are investigated to show that there is an increase in retail price variability and an amplified reverse bullwhip effect on prices (RBP) under certain demand conditions.     

Optimal pricing strategies under co-existence of price-takers and bargainers in a supply chain

We investigate how the co-existence of two types of customers, price-takers, and bargainers, influences the pricing decisions in a supply chain. We consider a stylized supply chain that includes one manufacturer and one retailer, and we characterize the optimal prices of the retailer and the manufacturer. We further discuss the effects of the fraction of the bargainers in the customer population and the relative bargaining power of the bargainers on these optimal prices. Our results show that, given the wholesale price, the lowest price at which the retailer is willing to sell (ie, cut-off price) increases with the relative bargaining power of the bargainers. Both posted and cut-off prices increase in the fraction of the bargainers in the customer population. Moreover, depending on the type of negotiation cost, the variations of both prices will vary. In equilibrium, both posted and cut-off prices do not monotonically increase with the fraction of the bargainers in the customer population. When the maximum reservation price of the customers is low, and/or the negotiation costs are high, and/or the relationship between the bargainer's negotiation cost and reservation price is high, the retailer may reduce both posted and cut-off prices as the fraction of the bargainers increases.     

棉花双关税后进口价格、期货价格与现货价格的感知及传导研究——基于VAR模型

随着我国棉花市场开放程度逐渐提高,探索国内外棉花价格感知和传导机制也愈显重要.国内外棉花价格传递必然受进出口贸易政策的影响,研究征收双关税后的棉花进口价格与国内期、现货价格之间的传递效应,对完善和优化我国棉花价格传导和形成机制更具现实意义.通过VAR模型、格兰杰因果检验、脉冲响应和方差分解等方法检验和探讨三者间的价格感知及传导机制.研究结果表明:征收双关税后的棉花进口价格、国内棉花期货和现货价格三者存在长期协整关系;双关税能够在一定程度上削弱国际棉价对国内棉价的传递能力,双关税后棉花进口价格不是国内棉价的Granger原因;三者在不同时期受到的冲击方向、力度和时间均有差异,据此提出优化国内棉花市场价格感知与传递机制的对策和建议.     

基于EGARCH模型的分类商品零售价格波动的信息效应研究

利用EGARCH模型对我国部分具有代表性的分类商品零售价格波动的信息效应进行了实证分析.分析结果显示,我国分类商品零售价格波动特征是不同的.在六个具有代表性的分类商品零售价格指数中,有四个指数的方差具有时变性特征.在四个当中,有三个指数有非对称信息效应,即非期望的价格上涨或下降信息对价格波动的影响是非对称的.另外的两个价格指数的方差为常数,价格波动稳定.     

On price competition in location-price models with spatially separated markets

In this paper we study price competition for two types of location-price models in which facility locations are set up and price decisions have to be made in order to maximise profit. We discuss the existence and determination of equilibrium prices in a general location space when facilities have different production costs. It is assumed that each price is bounded from below and demand for a single homogeneous product is price-inelastic. When facilities set mill prices, a price equilibrium rarely exists and necessary conditions for existence are obtained. In particular, when the location space is a tree network, we give a characterisation of the locations for which a unique equilibrium exists for two competitors. With spatial price discrimination, though equilibrium prices might not exist, it is shown that ε-equilibrium prices always exist for any locations of the facilities. A characterisation of ε-equilibrium is also given. Then the location-price problem is reduced to a location problem. A comparison of results with the two types of price determination is also presented. This work has been supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Spain under the research project BEC2002-01026, in part financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).     

Dynamic pricing of inventory/capacity with infrequent price changes

We consider a problem of dynamically pricing a single product sold by a monopolist over a short time period. If demand characteristics change throughout the period, it becomes attractive for the company to adjust price continuously to respond to such changes (i.e., price-discriminate intertemporally). However, in practice there is typically a limit on the number of times the price can be adjusted due to the high costs associated with frequent price changes. If that is the case, instead of a continuous pricing rule the company might want to establish a piece-wise constant pricing policy in order to limit the number of price adjustments. Such a pricing policy, which involves optimal choice of prices and timing of price changes, is the focus of this paper.We analyze the pricing problem with a limited number of price changes in a dynamic, deterministic environment in which demand depends on the current price and time, and there is a capacity/inventory constraint that may be set optimally ahead of the selling season. The arrival rate can evolve in time arbitrarily, allowing us to model situations in which prices decrease, increase, or neither. We consider several plausible scenarios where pricing and/or timing of price changes are endogenized. Various notions of complementarity (single-crossing property, supermodularity and total positivity) are explored to derive structural results: conditions sufficient for the uniqueness of the solution and the monotonicity of prices throughout the sales period. Furthermore, we characterize the impact of the capacity constraint on the optimal prices and the timing of price changes and provide several other comparative statics results. Additional insights are obtained directly from the solutions of various special cases.     

A RATIONALIZATION OF UPS AND DOWNS OF OIL PRICES BY SLUGGISH DEMAND,UNCERTAINTY, AND NONCONCAVITY

Motivated by the recent switching between “low” oil prices and “high” oil prices, this paper provides an economic explanation for oil price volatility. Given the characteristics of the oil market—sluggish, concave, and uncertain demand, as well as noncompetitive players—the corresponding profit maximizing strategy is to switch between a low price and a high price depending on whether the current demand is below or above a certain threshold. This provides an economic rationalization of oil price volatility (including the low prices) as alternative, or at least as complement, to the typically offered political explanations.     

Non-stationarity in Sugar Prices

Time series analysis of unstable series such as raw material prices contains several methodological pitfalls. These are illustrated by a survey of the Box-Jenkins method of analysis applied to 12 years of daily sugar prices.Two problems in particular have received insufficient attention in previous analyses. First, the model variance fluctuates substantially over time. The logarithmic transformation of prices is recommended as significantly reducing the fluctuations. Second, it is essential to study the constant term in the Box-Jenkins model, which is shown to differ significantly from zero. This proves the existence of price trends. The commonly accepted random walk model for commodity prices is thus incorrect, at least for sugar.However, these price trends vary over time and this possibility is not covered by the Box-Jenkins models. Consequently, a new model for price movements is proposed, characterized by frequent changes in the daily price trend yet consistent with the results of the autocorrelation analysis.     

核心城市房地产市场的联动和溢出特征研究——基于中国“北上广深”样本的经验考察

本文基于房价长期趋势和短期波动层面,基于HP滤波法分离北京、上海、广州和深圳四大一线城市的房价,采用有向无环图和信息溢出指数方法剖析了核心城市房价之间的同期联动效应和信息溢出效应,并结合滚动窗口估计法分析了信息溢出对外部信息和调控政策的反应程度。结果显示:一线城市房价之间有紧密的联系程度和较高的信息溢出规模。在同期联动效应上,深圳房价趋势的对外联动效应最明显,北京房价趋势在同期最易受其它城市影响;上海房价波动存在较强的对外联动效应,深圳房价波动受其它一线城市的波动冲击较迅速。在信息溢出效应上,深圳房价趋势有引领作用,对外溢出效应最强;上海房价波动处于引导地位,中长期对其它市场影响最大。核心城市房价趋势之间的溢出指数随着利好政策信息的出现而上升,随着限制政策等不利信息的出现而下降。核心城市房价波动之间的溢出效应对于外部信息反应更为灵敏,国家对房地产市场的调控政策增大核心城市房价波动的信息溢出规模。     

A Mellin transform approach to pricing barrier options under stochastic elasticity of variance

This article considers a problem of evaluating barrier option prices when the underlying dynamics are driven by stochastic elasticity of variance (SEV). We employ asymptotic expansions and Mellin transform to evaluate the option prices. The approach is able to efficiently handle barrier options in a SEV framework and produce explicitly a semi-closed form formula for the approximate barrier option prices. The formula is an expansion of the option price in powers of the characteristic amplitude scale and variation time of the elasticity and it can be calculated easily by taking the derivatives of the Black–Scholes price for a barrier option with respect to the underlying price and computing the one-dimensional integrals of some linear combinations of the Greeks with respect to time. We confirm the accuracy of our formula via Monte-Carlo simulation and find the SEV effect on the Black–Scholes barrier option prices.     

Structured products equilibria in conic two price markets

A novel equilibrium theory is developed for two price markets permitting investors to trade personally designed structured products. Classical market clearing is enhanced for structured products where the market allows these products to be freely bought at ask prices or sold for bid prices. Competitive pressures lead the market to lower the ask prices and raise the bid prices with the market offering individual investors the widest possible set of acceptable risks provided the aggregate counter cash flow held by the market is consistent with a more conservative prespecified set of acceptable risks. We learn that in equilibrium heterogeneous investors inherit a common hedging objective of maximizing the bid prices of the final structured product sold to market or equivalently minimizing the ask price of what is bought.