Research

• Envy-free Pricing of Seats in a Planetarium: Maximizing Revenue and Welfare with Geometric Valuation Structures

with J. Golak and A. Grigoriev

We study a geometric envy-free pricing problem with a single item demand. The aim of the seller is to maximize the revenue by assigning prices to points and by allocating customers to these points in an envy-free manner, i.e., every allocated customer receives a point of the highest possible utility and all non-allocated customers cannot afford any point. We also consider a discrete version where customers purchase the tiles of a regular tessellation of the plane. For the special case of continuous version of the problem, where all customers have the same preferred point, we introduce a dynamic programming algorithm solving the problem in polynomial time. For the discrete version of the problem, we extend the dynamic programming algorithm to the quasi-polynomial time approximation scheme.

• A multi-level model for value chains of smallholder farmer commodities 

with A. Grigoriev and in collaboration with the Fair and Smart Data research institute

We model the dynamics of and around the value chain for commodities like cocoa and coffee beans. A value chain is a set of activities performed to deliver a valuable product to the end customer. We use three different levels in our model, one for each type of decision maker: consumers, producers, and regulators. The consumer level tries to capture customers' decision-making when purchasing products in supermarkets or other retailers, while the regulator level models the market rules that are or can be in place. The value chain of the commodity from farmer to retailer is represented by the producer level. Since the policies currently in effect do not ensure that the premium we pay ends up at the farmers, our multi-level model aims at finding and testing adjusted regulations to ensure that the farmers ultimately earn a living income.

• Periodic Lock Scheduling Problem

with J. Golak and A. Grigoriev

We consider a periodic lock scheduling problem. We assume that streams of vessels are arriving periodically and we aim to minimize the long-run average waiting time. We introduce closed-form formulae for the case of only 2 streams of arriving vessels. For the general case, we provide exact algorithms and an incremental polynomial-time approximation scheme. This creates tools for policy makers to further reduce CO2 emissions in the inland waterway transportation section.

• An s-t path in the plane crossing a number of Jordan curves

with A. Abiad, J. Golak and A. Grigoriev

Let B be a finite collection of n geometric (not necessarily convex) bodies in the plane. These objects naturally generalize the class of disks, ellipsoids, and even non-convex polygons. We consider geometric intersection multigraphs G_B where each body of the collection B is represented by a vertex, and two vertices of G_B are connected by k edges, with k being the number of the intersections between the corresponding bodies. For such intersection multigraphs and under natural restrictions on their maximum degree D, we provide a quadratic upper bound of nDmin{n,D1} for the number of intersections between the boundaries of B and a minimum crossing curve connecting any two points in the plane. A linear upper bound of 2D+2 is given for the special case of n=2.

• Research Fellowship, Fair and Smart Data Institute (€15.000)

• Travel Grant, Maastricht University (€3.000)

• Organization of PhD Brownbag seminar, an open seminar series at Maastricht University in which PhDs can practice their presentations and improve their presentation skills, while getting feedback on their research approach.

Are you interested in presenting your research in our seminar? Please do not hesitate to contact me!

• Data Analytics and Digitalization representative for the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics' PhD Committee

• Reviewer for the School of Business and Economics' International Classroom Committee 2023

• Fair Trade Premiums: How Much Reaches the Farmers? [Blog]