Events

In many markets, new technologies allow traditional jobs to be divided into discrete tasks that are that are widely distributed across workers and dynamic priced in real time given prevailing supply and demand conditions. The most prominent example of this is the ridesharing company Uber, which connects riders and drivers and prices the trip using a system known as "Surge" pricing.  Surge pricing has evolved to dynamically price rides on every city block in every major world city, every minute of every day. In this talk, Professor Chen will introduce the firm, their current and evolving business model, and discuss his work with Uber in designing the Surge pricing system. In addition to dynamic pricing, Uber presents an interesting opportunity to answer questions at the intersection of behavioral consumer choice, revenue management, and dynamic spatial resource allocation.