arXiv subjects

Rajni Kant Bansal

Publications and source records attributed to Rajni Kant Bansal.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Bundling and Price-Matching in Competitive Complementary Goods Markets

We study mixed bundling and competitive price-matching guarantees (PMGs) in a duopoly selling complementary products to heterogeneous customers. One retailer offers mixed bundling while the rival sells only a bundle. We characterize unique pure-strategy Nash equilibria across subgames and compare them to a no-bundling benchmark. Mixed bundling strictly dominates whenever an equilibrium exists. Conditional on bundling, PMG adoption trades off strategic demand capture against margin losses on loyal customers and varies systematically with relative demand responsiveness to prices and complementarities.

econ.TH↗

arXiv2024

A Market Mechanism for a Two-stage Settlement Electricity Market with Energy Storage

Electricity markets typically clear in two stages: a day-ahead market and a real-time market. In this paper, we propose market mechanisms for a two-stage multi-interval electricity market with energy storage, generators, and demand uncertainties. We consider two possible mixed bidding strategies: storage first bids cycle depths in the day ahead and then charge-discharge power bids in the real-time market for any last-minute adjustments. While the first strategy only considers day-ahead decisions from an individual participant's perspective as part of their individual optimization formulation, the second strategy accounts for both the market operator's and participants' perspectives. We demonstrate that the competitive equilibrium exists uniquely for both mechanisms. However, accounting for the day-ahead decisions in the bidding function has several advantages. Numerical experiments using New York ISO data provide bounds on the proposed market mechanism.

math.OC↗

arXiv2023

Market Power Mitigation in Two-stage Electricity Market with Supply Function and Quantity Bidding

The main goal of a sequential two-stage electricity market -- e.g., day-ahead and real-time markets -- is to operate efficiently. However, the price difference across stages due to inadequate competition and unforeseen circumstances leads to undesirable price manipulation. To mitigate this, some Independent System Operators (ISOs) proposed system-level market power mitigation (MPM) policies in addition to existing local policies. These policies aim to substitute noncompetitive bids with a default bid based on estimated generator costs. However, these policies may lead to unintended consequences when implemented without accounting for the conflicting interest of participants. In this paper, we model the competition between generators (bidding supply functions) and loads (bidding quantity) in a two-stage market with a stage-wise MPM policy. An equilibrium analysis shows that a real-time MPM policy leads to equilibrium loss, meaning no stable market outcome (Nash equilibrium) exists. A day-ahead MPM policy, besides, leads to a Stackelberg-Nash game with loads acting as leaders and generators as followers. In this setting, loads become winners, i.e., their aggregate payment is always less than competitive payments. Moreover, comparison with standard market equilibrium highlights that markets are better off without such policies. Finally, numerical studies highlight the impact of heterogeneity and load size on market equilibrium.

math.OC↗

arXiv2023

Intercept Function and Quantity Bidding in Two-stage Electricity Market with Market Power Mitigation

Electricity markets typically operate in two stages, day-ahead and real-time. Despite best efforts striving efficiency, evidence of price manipulation has called for system-level market power mitigation (MPM) initiatives that substitute noncompetitive bids with default bids. Implementing these policies with a limited understanding of participant behavior may lead to unintended economic losses. In this paper, we model the competition between generators and inelastic loads in a two-stage market with stage-wise MPM policies. The loss of Nash equilibrium and lack of guarantee of stable market outcome in the case of conventional supply function bidding motivates the use of an alternative market mechanism where generators bid an intercept function. A Nash equilibrium analysis for a day-ahead MPM policy leads to a Stackelberg-Nash game with loads exercising market power at the expense of generators. A comparison of the resulting equilibrium with the standard market (not implementing any MPM policy) shows that a day-ahead policy completely mitigates the market power of generators. On the other hand, the real-time MPM policy increases demand allocation to real-time, contrary to current market practice with most electricity trades in the day-ahead market. Numerical studies illustrate the impact of the slope of the intercept function on the standard market.

math.OC↗

arXiv2021

A Market Mechanism for Truthful Bidding with Energy Storage

This paper proposes a market mechanism for multi-interval electricity markets with generator and storage participants. Drawing ideas from supply function bidding, we introduce a novel bid structure for storage participation that allows storage units to communicate their cost to the market using energy-cycling functions that map prices to cycle depths. The resulting market-clearing process--implemented via convex programming--yields corresponding schedules and payments based on traditional energy prices for power supply and per-cycle prices for storage utilization. We illustrate the benefits of our solution by comparing the competitive equilibrium of the resulting mechanism to that of an alternative solution that uses prosumer-based bids. Our solution shows several advantages over the prosumer-based approach. It does not require a priori price estimation. It also incentivizes participants to reveal their truthful cost, thus leading to an efficient, competitive equilibrium. Numerical experiments using New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) data validate our findings.

math.OC↗