Second-Best Pricing and Cooperation
研究自然垄断的定价问题，通过合作博弈引入“次优核心”概念，即零利润且帕累托最优的价格集合，并设计无需价格管制的特许权分配市场机制。
This article studies pricing for natural monopolies by using a cooperative game of joint production. Outputs are allocated by a price system. We introduce the concept of the second-best core, which is a subset of the set of zero-profit, second-best Pareto-optimal prices. Prices are such that no group of consumers subsidizes the purchase of another group. We consider the relations among the second-best core and sustainability, supportability, and natural monopoly. For specific preferences and technology we demonstrate the existence of the second-best core. We design a market mechanism for franchise allocation, which achieves second-best pricing without price regulation.