Revenue Management and Pricing

Applied Probability

University of Minnesota

• • Professor (Fall 2013-Present)

  • Associate Professor (Fall 2005-Summer 2013)

  • Assistant Professor (Fall 1999-Summer 2005)

Ph.D., Industrial Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1999

B.A., Mathematics, University of Pennsylvania, 1993

N. Mirzavand Boroujeni, K. Iyer, and W. L. Cooper. Decentralized Signaling Mechanisms, 2025. [manuscript]

T. Chen and W. L. Cooper. Pricing a product with network effects for sale to a fixed population of customers. Naval Research Logistics, 72(2), 200-2019, 2025. [manuscript, appendix, journal]

F. Nosrat, W. L. Cooper, and Z. Wang. Pricing for a product with network effects and mixed logit demand. Naval Research Logistics, 68(2), 159-182, 2021. [manuscript, journal]

Y. Liu, W. L. Cooper, and Z. Wang. Information provision and pricing in the presence of consumer search costs. Production and Operations Management, 28(7), 1603-1620, 2019. [manuscript, journal]

C. Du, W. L. Cooper, and Z. Wang. Optimal worst-case pricing for a logit demand model with network effects. Operations Research Letters, 46(3), 345-351, 2018. [paper, journal]

C. Du, W. L. Cooper, and Z. Wang. Optimal pricing for a multinomial logit choice model with network effects. Operations Research, 64(2), 441-455, 2016. [manuscript, appendix, journal]

Y. Liu and W. L. Cooper. Optimal dynamic pricing with patient customers. Operations Research, 63(6), 1307-1319, 2015. [manuscript, appendix, journal]

W. L. Cooper, T. Homem-de-Mello, and A. J. Kleywegt. Learning and pricing with models that do not explicitly incorporate competition. Operations Research, 63(1), 86-103, 2015. [manuscript, appendix, journal]

W. L. Cooper and B. Rangarajan. Performance guarantees for empirical Markov decision processes with applications to multiperiod inventory models. Operations Research, 60(5), 1267-1281, 2012. [paper, appendix]

W. L. Cooper and L. Li. On the use of buy up as a model of customer choice in revenue management. Production and Operations Management, 21(5), 833-850, 2012. [journal]

S. Benjaafar, W. L. Cooper, and S. Mardan. Production-inventory systems with imperfect advance demand information and updating. Naval Research Logistics, 58(2), 88-106, 2011. [journal]

K. Amaruchkul, W. L. Cooper, and D. Gupta. A note on air-cargo capacity contracts. Production and Operations Management, 20(1), 152-162, 2011. [journal]

D. Zhang and W. L. Cooper. Pricing substitutable flights in airline revenue management. European Journal of Operational Research, 197(3), 848-861, 2009. [journal]

D. Zhang and W. L. Cooper. Managing clearance sales in the presence of strategic customers. Production and Operations Management, 17(4), 416-431, 2008. [paper]

K. Amaruchkul, W. L. Cooper, and D. Gupta. Single-leg air-cargo revenue management. Transportation Science, 41(4), 457-469, 2007. [paper]

W. L. Cooper and T. Homem-de-Mello. Some decomposition methods for revenue management. Transportation Science, 41(3), 332-353, 2007. [paper]

W. L. Cooper, T. Homem-de-Mello, and A. J. Kleywegt. Models of the spiral-down effect in revenue management. Operations Research, 54(5), 968-987, 2006. [paper, appendix]

W. L. Cooper and D. Gupta. Stochastic comparisons in airline revenue management. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 8(3), 221-234, 2006. [paper]

D. Zhang and W. L. Cooper. Revenue management for parallel flights with customer-choice behavior. Operations Research, 53(3), 415-431, 2005. [paper]

S. Benjaafar, W. L. Cooper, and J.-S. Kim. On the benefits of pooling in production-inventory systems. Management Science, 51(4), 548-565, 2005. [paper]

D. Gupta and W. L. Cooper. Stochastic comparisons in production yield management. Operations Research, 53(2), 377-384, 2005. [paper]

W. L. Cooper, S. G. Henderson, and M. E. Lewis. Convergence of simulation-based policy iteration. Probability in the Engineering and Informational Sciences, 17(2), 213-234, 2003. [journal]

W. L. Cooper. Asymptotic behavior of an allocation policy for revenue management. Operations Research, 50(4), 720-727, 2002. [paper]

W. L. Cooper and R. L. Tweedie. Perfect simulation of an inventory model for perishable products. Stochastic Models, 18(2), 229-243, 2002. [journal]

W. L. Cooper. Pathwise properties and performance bounds for a perishable inventory system. Operations Research, 49(3), 455-466, 2001. [paper]

W. L. Cooper, V. Schmidt, and R. F. Serfozo. Skorohod-Loynes characterizations of queueing, fluid, and inventory processes. Queueing Systems, 37(1-3), 233-257, 2001. [journal]

W. L. Cooper. Negative binomial sums of random variables and discounted reward processes. Journal of Applied Probability, 35(3), 589-599, 1998. [journal]

Revenue management with network effects. PI: W. L. Cooper, Co-PI: Z. Wang. National Science Foundation, 2015-2020.

Model accuracy and learning in revenue management and dynamic pricing. PIs: W. L. Cooper, T. Homem-de-Mello, A. J. Kleywegt. National Science Foundation, 2007-2011.

Stochastic optimization for revenue management. PI: W. L. Cooper, Co-PI: T. Homem-de-Mello. National Science Foundation, 2001-2005.

Joint optimization of resource allocation and operational decisions for improving random yield. PI: D. Gupta, Co-PI: W. L. Cooper. National Science Foundation, 2001-2004.

Air-cargo revenue management in the presence of intermediaries. PI: D. Gupta, Co-PI: W. L. Cooper. National Science Foundation, 2004-2006.

IE 3521/4521 Statistics, Quality, and Reliability (Taught many times)

IE 4011 Stochastic Models (Taught many times)

IE 5532 Stochastic Models (Taught three times)

IE 8532 Stochastic Processes and Queueing Systems (Taught many times)

IE 8533 Advanced Stochastic Processes and Queueing Systems (Taught three times)

IE 8534 Advanced Topics: Pricing and Revenue Management (Taught once)

IE 8534/8990 Advanced Topics: Markov Decision Processes (Taught twice)

Chair of INFORMS Revenue Management and Pricing Section (2010-2011)

Director of Graduate Studies, Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Minnesota (2009-2023)

Department Editor, Revenue Management, Production and Operations Management (2012-2015)

Associate Editor, Stochastic Systems (2017-2023)

Associate Editor, Operations Research (2006-2021)

Associate Editor, Management Science (2009-2014)

Senior Editor, Production and Operations Management (2006-2011)

Associate Editor, IIE Transactions (2005-2008)

Co-Chair, 2024 INFORMS MSOM Conference, Minneapolis, MN

Program Chair, 2013 INFORMS Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN

Program Co-Chair, 2016 INFORMS International Meeting, Waikoloa, HI

Referee for journals including Operations Research; Management Science; Mathematics of Operations Research; Manufacturing & Service Operations Management; Transportation Science; Stochastic Systems; IIE Transactions; Probability in the Engineering and Informational Sciences; Stochastic Models; Queueing Systems; Naval Research Logistics; Production and Operations Management; Annals of Operations Research; IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics; European Journal of Operational Research; The Engineering Economist; INFOR; Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management; INFORMS Transactions on Education

Dan Zhang. Graduated 2005. Dissertation: Revenue management with customer choice. Current Position: Professor, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado.

Setareh Mardan. Graduated 2006 (co-advised with S. Benjaafar). Dissertation: Control policies for stochastic production-inventory systems. Current Position: Senior Manager, Research Science-Pricing Research, Amazon, Seattle, WA.

Kannapha Amaruchkul. Graduated 2007 (co-advised with D. Gupta). Dissertation: Models for air-cargo allotment management and booking control. Current Position: Associate Professor, Graduate School of Applied Statistics, National Institute of Development Administration, Bangkok, Thailand.

Le Li. Graduated 2010. Dissertation: On the use of some misspecified models of customer choice in revenue management. Current Position: Head of Enterprise Data Science, ZipRecruiter, Seattle, WA.

Yan Liu. Graduated 2015 (co-advised with Z. Wang). Dissertation: Optimal pricing with new models of consumer behavior. Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Chenhao Du. Graduated 2017 (co-advised with Z. Wang). Dissertation: Pricing for multinomial logit choice models with network effects. Current Position: Data Scientist, Wayfair, Boston, MA.

Xiaochen Zhang. Graduated 2021. Dissertation: New optimization models and algorithms for logistics and delivery problems. Current Position: Research Scientist, Facebook, Menlo Park, CA.

Fatemeh Nosrat. Graduated 2022. Dissertation: Pricing and assortment planning problems with network effects under mixed multinomial logit choice models. Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate, Rice University, Houston, TX.

Niloufar Mirzavand Boroujeni. Graduated 2024 (co-advised with K. Iyer). Dissertation: The cost of decentralized persuasion. Current Position: Data Scientist, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.