Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason

Telephony, the Internet, and the Media (Download full paper)

MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K. and David Waterman, eds.

Published on: January, 1998

Abstract: This review essay introduces the 15 selected papers from the 25th Annual TPRC. We mention major telecoms policy highlights of 1997, then offer a light interpretative essay with summaries of the papers. We organize the discussion into five general sections: "Historical," "Telephony," "The Internet," "The Media," and "Comparative Studies in Telephone and Satellite Policy." Readers will notice repeated themes and cross-connections between the chapters in these sections.

Network Architecture and Content Provision: An Economic Analysis (Download full paper)

MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K., Scott Shenker and Hal Varian

Published on: January, 1996

Abstract: An earlier version of Service Architecture and Content Provision, as presented at the Telecom Policy Research Conference 1995. There are some additional mathematical examples, and a short section on the effects of architecture on content creation that we did not include in the published version.

Pricing Congestible Resources (Download full paper)

MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K. and Hal Varian

Published on: September, 1995

Abstract: We describe the basic economic theory of pricing a congestible resource such as an ftp server, a router, a Web site, etc. In particular, we examine the implications of "congestion pricing" as a way to encourage efficient use of network resources. We explore the implications of flat pricing and congestion pricing for capacity expansion in centrally planned, competitive, and monopolistic environments

A Market-Based Approach to Optimal Resource Allocation in Integrated-Services connection-Oriented Networks (Download full paper)

Panagiotis Thomas, Demosthenis Teneketzis and Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason

Abstract: We present an approach to the admission control and resource allocation problem in connection-oriented networks that offer multiple services to users. Users' preferences are summarized by means of their utility functions, and each user is allowed to request more than one type of service. Multiple types of resources are allocated at each link along the path of a connection. We assume that the relation between Quality of Service (QoS) and resource allocation is given, and we incorporate it as a constraint into a static optimization problem. The objective of the optimization problem is to determine the amount and, required resources for each type of service to maximize the sum of the users' utilities. We prove the existence of a solution of the optimization problem, and describe a competitive market economy that implements the solution and satisfies the informational constraints imposed by the nature of the decentralized resource allocation problem. The economy consists of four different types of agents: resource providers, service providers, users, and an auctioneer that regulates the prices based on the observed aggregate excess demand. The goods that are sold are: (i) the resources at each link of the network; and (ii) services constructed from these resources and then delivered to users. We specify an iterative procedure that is used by the auctioneer to update the prices, and we show that it leads to an allocation that is arbitrarily close to a solution of the optimization problem in a finite number of iterations.

Feedback And Efficiency In ATM Networks (Download full paper)

Murphy, Liam, John Murphy, and Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason

Abstract: Admission control and congestion control can provide performance guarantees in ATM networks. However some users may not be able to describe their traffic accurately enough for the network to provide these guarantees. By sending a dynamic feedback signal about the current utilization of network resources, the network could provide some guarantees to adaptive users who respond appropriately: this is the basis of ABR service. We outline a user-oriented framework for network operation and control, explicitly defining how such feedback is generated by the network and what form it takes. We show through simulations that it is possible to simultaneously gain both network and economic efficiency by using a form of feedback we call responsive pricing, which is compatible with current ATM Forum UNI specifications.

The Role of Responsive Pricing in the Internet (Download full paper)

MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K., Liam Murphy and John Murphy

Abstract: The recent introduction of user-friendly navigation and retrieval tools for the World Wide Web has triggered an unprecedented level of interest in the Internet among the media and the general public, as well as in the technical community. It seems inevitable that some changes or additions are needed in the control mechanisms used to allocate usage of Internet resources. We argue that a feedback signal in the form of a variable price for network service is a workable tool to aid network operators in controlling Internet traffic. We suggest that these prices should vary dynamically based on the current utilization of network resources. We show how this responsive pricing puts control of network service back where it belongs: with the users.

Some Economics of the Internet (Download full paper)

MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K. and Hal Varian

Abstract: This paper overlaps substantially with the paper Pricing the Internet. We describe the history, technology and costs of the Internet (at greater length than in "Pricing"). We describe a "smart market" for pricing Internet congestion. There is more attention to the smart market, and less to other pricing considerations, than in "Pricing."

Economic FAQs About the Internet (Download full paper)

MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K. and Hal Varian

Abstract: We present some economic FAQs about the Internet in question-and-answer format. Updated, Summer 1995.

Pricing the Internet (Download full paper)

MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K. and Hal Varian

Abstract: We describe the technology and costs of the Internet, then discuss how to design efficient pricing in order to allocate scarce Internet resources. We offer a "smart market" as a device to efficiently price congestion.

Some FAQs about Usage-Based Pricing (Download full paper)

MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K. and Hal Varian

Abstract: Written for WWW '94 (Chicago). We answer some frequently asked questions about usage-sensitive pricing for Internet resources.