Research

Research Interests

• Revenue Management and Pricing

  • Context: Innovative applications in airline, hotel, event industries, and online marketplaces.

  • Methodology: Causal inference, discrete choice models.

Journal Publications

1. Yılmaz Ö., Son Y., Shang G. and Arslan H.A. (2024) "Causal inference under selection on observables in Operations Management research: Matching methods and synthetic controls"

• Journal of Operations Management, 70(5): 831-859.

2. Arslan H.A., Tereyağoğlu N. and Yılmaz Ö. (2023)* "Scoring a touchdown with variable pricing: Evidence from a quasi-experiment in the NFL ticket markets"

• Management Science, 69(8): 4435-4456 - Featured article 

• Finalist, Kahle Family Research Excellence Award, 2024.

• Finalist, MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference Research Paper Poster Competition, 2020.

3. Yılmaz Ö., Pekgün P., Ferguson M. and Shang G. (2022) "Strategic behavior for hotel standby upgrade programs: Empirical evidence and pricing implications"

• • Journal of Operations Management, 68(6-7): 675-701.

4. Arslan H.A., Easley R.F., Wang R. and Yılmaz Ö. (2022)* "Data-driven sports ticket pricing for multiple sales channels with heterogeneous customers"

• Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 24(2): 1241-1260.

• Finalist, Kahle Family Research Excellence Award, 2023.

• Finalist, 4th POMS Applied Research Challenge, 2020/21.

5. Yılmaz Ö., Pekgün P. and Ferguson M. (2017) "Would you like to upgrade to a premium room? Evaluating the benefits of offering standby upgrades"

• Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 19(1): 1-18 - Featured article

6. Yılmaz Ö., Easley R.F. and Ferguson M. (2023) "The future of sports ticketing: Technologies, data, and new strategies"

• Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management. 22: 219-230.

7. Peng Y., Ferguson M. and Yılmaz Ö. (2023) "Airline revenue management around sporting mega-events: An application using data from the Super Bowl XLIX"

• Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management. 22: 188-200.

*: Authors  are listed alphabetically.

Research Papers

• Data-driven pricing for availability-based upgrades under a multiple binary choice model with copula with Farbod Ekbatani, Zifeng Zhao, Ruxian Wang, and Andrew Vakhutinsky.

  • Minor revision, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management

  • Finalist, M&SOM Practice-Based Research Competition, 2025

  • Oracle Labs ERO funding ($90,000)

• Consumer choice and assortment optimization under the random threshold multinomial logit model with Zifeng Zhao, Ruxian Wang, and Chenxu Ke.

  • Reject & Resubmit, Management Science.

• Unlocking the benefit of exchangeable tickets: A study of consumer behavior in sports events with H. Alper Arslan, Yao Cui, and Ross Rotwein.

  • Soon to be submitted.

• No more hidden fees: The impact of California's "Honest Pricing Law" on vacation rentals with Serkan Mehder, Maxime Cohen, and Armin Khamoshi.

  • In progress.

• Impact of in-session price increases in the cart on consumer behavior: Evidence from a field experiment in an online marketplace with Domenico Fabrizi, Serkan Mehder, Jiankun Sun, and Zifeng Zhao. 

  • In progress.

Non-Academic Publications

• What's dynamic pricing? An operations management scholar explains. (The Conversation, 2022)