Essays on Design, Operation, and Pricing of On-Demand Service Systems

Abstract

In this dissertation, we describe research on the design, operation, and pricing of on-demand service systems. We use the term "on-demand service systems" to refer to systems distinguished by two important features: (1) an "on-demand" feature, with requests arising randomly over time without prior booking or notice and (2) a "resource reusability" feature, with the fulfillment of demand involving the usage of resources for a limited (and random) amount of time. We model the systems as closed queueing systems and provide non-asymptotic performance guarantees.