Xavier University Bhubaneswar

University Dialogue Series (UDS)

Date: 16 December 2019 Time: 04.00 pm Venue: Classroom 126

Waiting in Line for two Robert Frost Poems

Speaker:
Dr. Sudipta Sarangi
Professor and Department Head (Economics)
Virginia Tech, USA

Allocation of scarce resources is at the heart of the economic problems. Lines are one frequently used
mechanism to allocate scarce resources. This talk focuses on the issues underlying the economics of
queuing and the actual cost of queues as well as how to monetize the cost of waiting. It explores the
possibility of setting up alternative queuing mechanisms along with the efficiency and equity issued
associated with alternative mechanisms like VIP lines. The talk will conclude by linking such basic
themes of Economics to the poetry of Robert Frost.

Keywords: Queuing, Opportunity Cost, Efficiency, Equity, Robert Frost

Faculty Coordinators: Prof. Kalpana Sahoo and Prof. Satyendra Nath Mishra
Administrative Coordinator: Jayanta Kumar Das
Email: uds@xub.edu.in; Internal Phone: 7835 / 7752 / 7794
Phones: +91 674 2377700; Fax: +91 674 2300995