User Profit Research Articles

Region-wise evaluation of price-based demand response programs in Japan’s wholesale electricity market considering microeconomic equilibrium

Real-time pricing demand response programs (RTP-DRPs) are practical measures that ensure the end user's profitability from using electricity by adjusting the supply and demand equilibrium without activating costly solutions. This study explores the potential of RTP-DRPs by developing and applying a region-wise modeling approach based on maximizing the end user's social welfare in the wholesale electricity market in Japan. The regions of the wholesale market are classified based on their response into regions with excess supply, regions with high demand burden, and regular suppliers of inter-regional connections. The results revealed that the RTP-DRPs could potentially reduce the peak demand of the residential sector in Chubu, Chugoku, Kansai, Kyushu, Tokyo, and Tohoku by 1.91%-7.81%. Meanwhile, in Hokkaido, Hokuriku, and Shikoku, by 16.13%-22.9%. The avoided greenhouse emission (GHG) in Tokyo is estimated to be 82.6 and 192.2 tons in summer and winter, respectively.

Multiple layer design for mass data transmission against channel congestion in IoT

SUMMARYInternet of Things (IoT) is well studied from many aspects; however, data transmission in a large‐scale constructed IoT network is still an open topic. In this paper, the problems of channel congestion caused by mass data transmission are discussed respectively from different perspectives. Then, a multiple layer solution is proposed, pointing to each layer including data processing architecture, data dimension reduction, data abandon protocol, and spectrum sharing. In the architecture layer, a combined scheme with cloud computing and sea computing is introduced. Context awareness and granular computing is exploited to implement the data dimension reduction. And cognitive protocol is involved with type of service, which drops certain data to guarantee the entire network connectivity. Then, a principal–agent theory based two‐step game model is proposed with the consideration of cooperation and price coefficient, which affect the secondary user's choice and primary user's profit. Some incomplete information is assumed as random variables so that certainty equivalent is introduced in the model. A simple scenario shows how the data dimension reduction works and how simulations for data abandon protocol and spectrum sharing test the two parts, respectively. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

THE EFFECT OF REGULATION ON WAGES AND INTERMEDIATE PRODUCT PRICES UNDER BILATERAL MONOPOLY1

ABSTRACTThis paper seeks to determine whether, under bilateral monopoly, profit rate regulation induces an input price bias in addition to the well known Averch‐Johnson capital intensity bias. Using a Nash‐type employer‐union, fixed bargaining power model, it is found that regulation may induce lower as well as higher wage rates. Similarly, when the two parties are respectively capital equipment supplier and user, regulation of the user's profit rate has an ambiguous effect on the equipment rental rate. In both cases the input price effect is shown to depend on the elasticity of factor substitution and on how demand elasticity varies with output.