Dresden 2020 – scientific programme
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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 20: Data analytics for dynamical systems I (Focus Session joint with DY and BP) (joint session SOE/BP/CPP/DY)
DY 20.3: Topical Talk
Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 10:15–10:45, GÖR 226
Gaming the system - Analyzing Uber price data reveals anomalous supply shortages — •Malte Schröder1, David Storch1, Philip Marszal1, and Marc Timme1,2 — 1Chair for Network Dynamics, Institute for Theoretical Physics and Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed), TU Dresden — 2Lakeside Labs, Klagenfurt
Dynamic pricing schemes are ubiquitously employed across industries to balance demand and supply. One well-known example is the ridehailing platform Uber and their surge pricing intended to incentivize drivers to offer their service during times of high demand. However, recent reports [WJLA, Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at Reagan National causing artificial price surges (2019)][Möhlmann and Zalmanson, ICIS 2017 Seoul (2017)] indicate that this surge pricing may instead cause demand-supply imbalances by incentivizing drivers to switch off their app to increase their revenue. Analyzing price estimate time series for trips from 137 locations in 59 urban areas across six continents, we identify locations with strong, repeated price surges. Correlations with demand patterns demonstrate that the observed price surges are indeed driven by supply anomalies instead of demand fluctuations. Moreover, we capture the minimal incentives driving the supply dynamics in a simple game-theoretic model, illustrating that such incentives constitute generic consequences of dynamic pricing schemes.