Problems on Markov Chain 1.

Find the steady-state probabilities, given the vector of state probabilities and the matrix of transition probabilities: (1) = (0.4, 0.6) A B P = A 0.6 0.4 B 0.3 0.7 2. Consider a certain community in a well-defined area with three types of grocery-stores; (I, II, III). Within this community, there always exists a shift of customers from one store to another. A study was made on Jan 1 and it was found that shopped at store I, 1/3 at store II and 5/12 at store III. Each month store I retains 90% of its customers and loses 10% of them to store II. Store II retains 90% of its customers and loses 5% of them to store I and 5% to store III. Store III retains 40% of its customers and loses 50% of them to store I and 10% of them to store II. a) What proportion of customers will each store retain by Feb 1, Mar 1? b) Assuming that the same pattern continues, what will be the long run distribution of customers among the three stores? 3. A housewife buys three kinds of cereals A, B and C. She never buys the same cereal on successive weeks. If she buys cereal A, then the next week she buys cereal B. However, if she buys either B or C, then the next week she is three times more likely to buy A as the other brands. In the long run, how often does she buy each of the three?