The Econometric SocietyEdited by: Guido W. Imbens • Print ISSN: 0012-9682 • Online ISSN: 1468-0262
Econometrica: May, 1972, Volume 40, Issue 3
https://doi.org/0012-9682(197205)40:3<515:IASOIA>2.0.CO;2-G
p. 515-528
Niels Chr. Knudsen
This paper considers an M/M/s queuing model in which customers who arrive when k customers are present in the queuing system obtain a net benefit of a?k. The a?-sequence is assumed to be a decreasing one. If it is left to the individual customer to decide whether to join the queue or not, he will balk whenever the queue length is greater than some number, say n1. It is shown that if a balking level n2 < n1 is enforced, then the customers as a group can generally expect a larger net benefit per time unit than when the balking level n1 is applied. One way to ensure social optimality is to impose a toll on the customers who join the queue. In the discussion of a possible economic interpretation of the model we point out the similarities between such a toll and a shadow price in a more conventional optimization model. It is also demonstrated that in a stochastic optimization model capacity utilization is not a sufficient price criterion.
March 5, 2024
The terms of the Editors of the Econometric Society's three journals end June 30, 2025. We are pleased to announce the incoming Editors and to thank the outgoing Editors for their excellent and continuing service.
Econometrica: Since 2019, Guido Imbens has served as the 14th Editor of Econometrica. On July 1, 2025, Marina Halac will become the Editor.
Quantitative Economics: Stéphane Bonhomme has been the Editor of Quantitative Economics since 2021. His successor will be Bernard Salanié.
Theoretical Economics: The Editor of Theoretical Economics since 2021 has been Simon Board. Taking over for him in July 2025 will be Federico Echenique.
Guido, Stéphane, and Simon have been outstanding Editors. We are grateful to them for the work they have done and will continue to do, and we look forward to further congratulating them next year. We believe Marina, Bernard, and Federico will be outstanding successors and we thank them in advance for their service.
Finally, we are grateful to Larry Samuelson for chairing all three search committees, and we thank the search committee members for their hard and fruitful work:
Econometrica: Christian Dustmann, Lars Hansen, Alessandro Lizzeri, George Mailath, Ariel Pakes, Helene Rey, and Elie Tamer.
QE: Kate Ho, Michael Keane, Felix Kubler, Whitney Newey, and Frank Schorfheide.
TE: Jeff Ely, Johannes Horner, Gilat Levy, Meg Meyer, and Ran Spiegler.
