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SOFSEM
2010
Springer

On the Complexity of the Highway Pricing Problem

14 years 15 days ago
On the Complexity of the Highway Pricing Problem
Abstract. The highway pricing problem asks for prices to be determined for segments of a single highway such as to maximize the revenue obtainable from a given set of customers with known valuations. The problem is NP-hard and a recent quasi-PTAS suggests that a PTAS might be in reach. Yet, so far it has resisted any attempt for constant-factor approximation algorithms. We relate the tractability of the problem to structural properties of customers’ valuations. We show that the problem becomes NP-hard as soon as the average valuations of customers are not homogeneous, even under further restrictions such as monotonicity. Moreover, we derive an efficient approximation algorithm, parameterized along the inhomogeneity of customers’ valuations. Finally, we discuss extensions of our results that go beyond the highway pricing problem.
Alexander Grigoriev, Joyce van Loon, Marc Uetz
Added 17 Mar 2010
Updated 17 Mar 2010
Type Conference
Year 2010
Where SOFSEM
Authors Alexander Grigoriev, Joyce van Loon, Marc Uetz
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