Mechanism Design and Online Economics

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Mechanism Design and Online Economics Project leader: Sergei Izmalkov We live in a digital world. People search, shop, work, and socialize online. In the last two decades we have seen emergence of new businesses and whole new sectors of the economy. Expedia, booking, google, Yandex, amazon, eBay, uber, pandora, netflix, facebook, apple | these are only a few examples of companies who have created new or transformed existing markets. This project is (mostly) about theory: how can we (as economists) model and analyze behavior of participants (users, firms, platforms, policy makers) in these new markers, and, possibly offer better designs? This area is particularly exiting (and challenging at the same time) for research as the markets, economic and social phenomena, are new and emerging, effectively being an uncharted territory. Below is a short list of possible topics that I list more like an indication of a range of possible research topics. I expect that each student in the project would come up with own research question, broadly aligned with the overall topic of the project. A few topics 1. Design and analysis of online economic mechanisms (especially auctions, but other mechanisms, e.g. queues, lotteries, pricing, matching are possible). Examples of problems: allocation of advertising positions, provision of cloud services, design of recommender systems, optimal information provision, persuasion, crowdfunding and collective action. 2. Analysis of performance, processes, users' activities of various economic mechanisms. E.g., ad auctions, procurement auctions, crowdfunding platforms, any digital services. 3. How links/ matches/ networks influence social and economic behaviour. 4. Analysis and modeling of privacy concerns. 5. Using online behaviour and data to measure economic phenomena..

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Asia Pacific Travel Trends 2017
ASIA PACIFIC TRAVEL TRENDS 2017 Travel Habits, Behaviours, and Influencers of Chinese, Japanese, and Australian Travellers METHODOLOGY Data Collection Method ONLINE SURVEY Quantitative Survey Field Work 30 March – 7 April 2017 Qualifying Criteria Must have booked online travel in the past year Sample Size China: n=1000 Japan: n=1001 Australia: n=1000 Total: n=3001 2 LAST TRIP LOOK BACK BY COUNTRY NUMBER OF Number of Trips Taken in the Past Year TRIPS PER YEAR VARIES SIGNIFICANTLY 5.3 4.4 BETWEEN 4.3 THE THREE 3.3 COUNTRIES The Chinese know how to travel, taking the most amount of trips per year TOTAL China Japan Australia 4 Trips in the Past Year TRAVELLERS FROM ALL THREE 5.3 COUNTRIES TAKE, ON 4.4 AVERAGE, MORE 3.3 3.1 3.2 THAN 4 TRIPS A YEAR 2.5 2.1 The Japanese and Chinese take roughly the 1.4 same amount of personal trips 0.8 The Chinese take the most business trips Total Business Personal Notable Country Difference China Japan Australia Q9: Typically, how many personal/leisure and business trips do you take per year? Q10: What types of vacations have you taken in the past year? 5 Total (n=3001) China(n=1000) Japan (n=1001) Australia (n=1000) TIME SPENT ON Time Spent on Vacation VACATION for THE THREE 10.6 COUNTRIES 6.7 ALSO VARIES 6.3 WIDELY 3.4 Australians take the longest trips by far The Japanese take the shortest vacations TOTAL China Japan Australia 6 27% 14% AUSTRALIANS TRAVELLERS ARE THE MOST LIKELY TO TRAVEL INTERNATIONALLY 73% 86% The Japanese are the most likely to travel domestically 45% 29% In general, the three countries
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2018-Annual-Report-(Final).Pdf
TM 2018 ANNUAL REPORT TM TM TM BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS STOCKHOLDER INFORMATION Annual Meeting Barry Diller Barry Diller Chairman and Senior Executive Expedia Chairman and Senior Executive The annual meeting of stockholders Group, Inc. and IAC/InterActiveCorp will be held via audio webcast on Peter M. Kern December 3, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. Peter M. Kern Vice Chairman Eastern Time Vice Chairman Online audio webcast: Expedia Group, Inc. Mark D. Okerstrom www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/ Chief Executive Officer EXPE2019 Samuel Altman and President Chief Executive Officer Stock Market Listing Open AI Alan R. Pickerill Expedia Group, Inc.’s common stock Executive Vice President and is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Susan C. Athey Chief Financial Officer Market under the symbol “EXPE.” Economics of Technology Professor Stanford Graduate School of Business Robert J. Dzielak Registrar and Transfer Agent Chief Legal Officer and Secretary Computershare A. George (Skip) Battle Stockholder correspondence should Chairman Lance A. Soliday be mailed to: Fair Isaac Corporation Senior Vice President, Computershare Chief Accounting Officer P.O. Box 505000 Chelsea Clinton and Controller Louisville, KY 40233 Vice Chair Clinton Foundation Overnight correspondence should be mailed to: Craig A. Jacobson Computershare Partner 462 South 4th Street Suite 1600 Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Louisville, KY 40202 Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller & Gellman, L.L.P. Computershare stockholder website: https://www-us.computershare.com/- Victor A. Kaufman investor Vice Chairman IAC/InterActiveCorp Computershare stockholder online inquiries: Dara Khosrowshahi https://www-us.computershare.com/- Bringing the world Chief Executive Officer Investor/Contact Uber Technologies, Inc. Computershare within reach Mark D.
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Influencers Throughout the Travel Booking Path to Purchase
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Kayak Puts Travel in the Spotlight with Dropbox for Business
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OIG COMMENTS ON DOT STUDY OF AIR TRAVEL SERVICES Office of the Secretary Number: CC-2002-061 Date Issued: December 13, 2002 Memorandum U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation Office of Inspector General Subject: INFORMATION: OIG Comments on DOT Study Date: December 13, 2002 of Air Travel Services, Office of the Secretary CC-2002-061 From: Kenneth M. Mead Reply to Attn. of: JA-50 Inspector General To: The Secretary The Deputy Secretary This report presents the results of our review of the Department of Transportation (Department) Study of Air Travel Services. On June 27, 2002, the Office of Aviation and International Affairs issued a report to Congress on its efforts to monitor air travel services related to Orbitz. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) was directed by the House and Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittees in the Conference Committee Report on the DOT Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 20021 to evaluate and comment on the Department’s findings. We have reviewed the Department’s report and evaluated the reasonableness and accuracy of the Department’s analysis and conclusions. We selectively verified data cited in the report to the information submitted to the Department by Orbitz’ airline-owners, Charter and non-Charter Associates,2 Global Distribution Systems (GDSs), and online travel agencies. In addition, we held discussions with and reviewed supplemental data submitted by online and brick-and-mortar travel agencies, Department officials, GDSs, and large and small carriers. We also conducted tests of online travel agencies to determine the validity of some of the claims Orbitz’ critics have made.
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Deal of the Week: Expedia to Buy Orbitz for $1.38B
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The Power of Ranking: Quantifying the Effects of Rankings on Online Consumer Search and Choice∗
The Power of Ranking: Quantifying the Effects of Rankings on Online Consumer Search and Choice∗ Raluca M. Ursu† Current version: May, 2015 PRELIMINARY AND INCOMPLETE PLEASE DO NOT CITE OR CIRCULATE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION Abstract When consumers face many options, intermediaries can help by ranking them, which in turn can influence how consumers search and what they ultimately purchase. To understand such influence, it is crucial to separate the role the ranking plays in consumer choices from other characteristics of the firm. As the ranking is endogenous, separately identifying the role of the ranking is challenging. In this paper, I identify the causal effect of rankings by using a data set on hotel searches that includes both a random ranking and the default ranking of a popular online travel agent. I show that rankings affect both clicks and purchases, but that conditional on a click, consumers do not derive any additional utility from purchasing from a higher ranked hotel. In addition, the data permits testing two common modeling assumptions found in the literature: that position mainly affects search costs and that consumer search sequentially, both of which are supported by the data. To quantify the effect of rankings on consumer choices, I estimate a sequential search model that accounts for the order in which consumers search. This model reveals that search cost estimates ignoring the endogeneity bias of position are upward biased. Using this model’s search and preference parameter estimates, I construct several counterfactuals of interest comparing the value of the default ranking with the optimal ranking for consumers, hotels and the intermediary.
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Termination of Airline Computer Reservation System Rules
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Expedia Buys Travelocity for $280 Million 23 January 2015
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Expedia, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2017 Results Healthy Room Night Growth Partly Offset by Natural Disasters, Trivago
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New Mobile Entrants and Issues in Hotel Distribution by Matt Carrier, Manager of Revenue Strategy, Kalibri Labs
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Visitor Profile - Satisfaction, Repeat Travel, and Trip Planning Satisfaction Ratings
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