Annals of Operations Research最新文献

The aircraft landing problem (ALP) is an important issue of assigning an airport’s runways to the arrival aircrafts as well as to schedule the landing time of these aircrafts in practice. A large number of the extant studies have tried to address such a practical problem with using various algorithms for one or more runways. For a static single-runway of the ALP, this paper proposes a new approach to develop an alternative powerful algorithm. For a given sequence of planes, we develop a faster algorithm for solving the ALP with the running time (O(n log n)), where n is the number of aircrafts in the schedule. Alternatively, we reduce the proposed problem of minimizing the total cost by determining the landing times for a given landing sequence into a min-cost flow problem. We conduct a set of experimental studies to compare the performance of our near-linear time algorithm to the quadratic time algorithm whose time complexity is (O(n^2)), for computing the optimal landing times. The computational results show that the proposed heuristic based on our algorithm could be much faster than both such quadratic time algorithm and the one using linear programming.

This study adopts a multidimensional approach to examining sustainability reporting practices among notebook manufacturers, integrating traditional corporate sustainability reports with social media data from platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. Using advanced machine learning techniques, including multi-label classification and BERT-based sentiment analysis, the research highlights the key environmental, social, and economic dimensions that consumers prioritize. The findings reveal a significant misalignment between consumer concerns, reflected in social media discourse, and the focus of corporate sustainability reports. While companies emphasize environmental impacts and supply chain management, consumers prioritize product reliability, community obligations, and educational initiatives. This gap indicates a need for companies to realign their sustainability strategies to better meet consumer expectations, emphasizing trust-building, community engagement, and educational efforts. Despite these differences, the study also identifies shared concerns between consumers and producers, such as environmental impacts, supply chain sustainability, and transparency in sustainability claims. Based on these insights, the study recommends fostering transparent communication, engaging in inclusive dialogue, and committing to accountable actions across all sustainability dimensions. By aligning corporate reporting with consumer expectations, this research provides guidance to help companies advance towards a circular economy and enhance Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the electronics industry, ultimately benefiting both companies and consumers in the pursuit of a more sustainable future.

Our paper develops the work of cooperative oligopoly TU markets. Inspired by Zhao (Int J Game Theory 28(1):25–34, 1999) and Zhao (Games Econ Behav 27(1):153–168, 1999), our paper investigates the TU stable profit allocations of cooperative oligopoly TU markets with countably many firms. We first show that the set of (alpha -)TU stable profit allocations coincides with the set of (beta -)TU stable profit allocations. Furthermore, under some regular conditions, we shall prove the existence theorem of (alpha -)TU stable profit allocations for oligopoly TU markets with countably many firms.

Multiple criteria sorting methods assign objects into ordered categories while objects are characterized by a vector of n attributes values. Categories are ordered, and the assignment of the object is monotonic w.r.t. to some underlying order on the attributes scales (criteria). Our goal is to offer a survey of the literature on multiple criteria sorting methods, since the origins, in the 1980’s, focusing on the underlying models. In the first part of the paper, we start by recalling two main models, one based on additive value functions (UTADIS) and the other one an outranking relation (Electre Tri). Then we draw a (structured) picture of multiple criteria sorting models and the methods designed for eliciting their parameters or learning them based on assignment examples. In a second part of the paper, we attempt to provide a theoretical view of the field and position some existing models within it. We then discuss issues related to imperfect or insufficient information.

We use structural modeling to address the allocation process of a microcredit provider granting loans to a heterogeneous pool of applicants. Our theoretical model accounts for technology, risk preferences, and information asymmetry. We test the model with a hand-collected database that includes detailed information on the applicants of a microcredit institution funding European micro-enterprises. Non-parametric Bayesian methodology is used to unpack between-group differences in approval probabilities associated with gender and country of origin and identify (demand-side differences), while differences in unexplained approval probabilities would suggest supply-side biases. The empirical analysis shows that applicants coming from outside of the European Union tend to be more productive than EU-born citizens. They also enjoy a higher approval probability, except for applicants from Latin America, which appear to be riskier borrowers. This result suggests that the microcredit provider treats immigrants fairly. By contrast, the higher productivity and the lower risk of female entrepreneurial projects is only partially compensated by easier access to credit.

Partially Observed Markov Decision Processes (Pomdp) share the structure of Markov Decision Processs (Mdp) — with stages, states, actions, probability transitions, rewards — but for the notion of solutions. In a Pomdp, observation mappings provide partial and/or imperfect knowledge of the state, and a policy maps observations (and not states like in a Mdp) towards actions. Theroretically, a Pomdp can be solved by Dynamic Programming (DP), but with an information state made of probability distributions over the original state, hence DP suffers from the curse of dimensionality, even in the finite case. This is why, authors like (Littman, M. L. 1996). Algorithms for Sequential Decision Making. PhD thesis, Brown University) and (Bonet, B. 2009). Deterministic POMDPs revisited. In Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, UAI ’09 (pp. 59-66). Arlington, Virginia, USA. AUAI Press) have studied the subclass of so-called Deterministic Partially Observed Markov Decision Processes (Det-Pomdp), where transitions and observations mappings are deterministic. In this paper, we improve on Littman’s complexity bounds. We then introduce and study a more restricted class, Separated Det-Pomdps, and give some new complexity bounds for this class.

Environmental regulations have led to firms considering offshoring their production to avoid compliance costs. However, overseas production comes with yield uncertainty. This study examines optimal environmental regulations and firms’ responses under three production scenarios. The government’s objective is to maximize social welfare by selecting the type and intensity of regulatory instruments, while firms seek to optimize profits by adjusting their optimal production quantities. Our analysis finds that price and quantity regulation instruments have similar impacts on social welfare, but firms prefer quantity instruments despite price instruments being more beneficial for consumers. Furthermore, both pollution damage coefficient and yield uncertainty are important factors affecting social welfare and firms’ location choice and there exist win–win situations that benefit the government, firms, and consumers. Additionally, offshoring tends to be more environmentally friendly to the local environment. To further validate the main model, we examine various extensions. Results show that the hybrid instrument does not significantly enhance social welfare, but it does offer flexibility in adjusting firms’ production transfer motivations. Additionally, factors such as positive production and fixed costs, as well as multi-market issues, do not alter the government’s preference for regulatory instruments.