Profit maximization and supermodular technology

Profit Maximization and Supermodular Technology

A dataset is a list of observed factor inputs and prices for a technology; profits and production levels are unobserved. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for a dataset to be consistent with profit maximization under a monotone and concave revenue based on the notion of cyclic monotonicity. Our result implies that monotonicity and concavity cannot be tested, and that one cannot deci...

Patent law--balancing profit maximization and public access to technology.

This article addresses the contemporary issue of balancing the need for patent protection for intellectual property with the resulting restriction of public access to new technology. The author argues that patent law protects private property rights rather than creating monopolies. Additionally, the author discusses how restricting access to patented technology, such as pharmaceuticals, can aff...

Customer Selection and Profit Maximization

Constrained Monotone Function Maximization and the Supermodular Degree

The problem of maximizing a constrained monotone set function has many practical applications and generalizes many combinatorial problems such as k-Coverage, Max-SAT, Set Packing, Maximum Independent Set and Welfare Maximization. Unfortunately, it is generally not possible to maximize a monotone set function up to an acceptable approximation ratio, even subject to simple constraints. One highly...

Profit Maximization in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a novel paradigm for the provision of computing infrastructure, which aims to shift the location of the computing infrastructure to the network in order to reduce the costs of management and maintenance of hardware and software resources. To maximize the profit, a service provider should understand both service charges and business costs. Our pricing model takes such factors ...