1. Explain why a hotel manager should understand the theory of peak-load pricing.
2. In markets for electricity, it is now believed that generation is an activity that should be deregulated and governed by competition. In many cases the price of electricity is determined through a power pool. The power pool operator takes bids for supply and dispatches generation-lowest bidders first-until supply equals demand. The bid of the marginal supplier determines the pool price. Suppose that electricity generation has constant returns to scale, that capacity costs are sunk, and that output in the short-run is limited by capacity. Explain using the theory of peak-load pricing why price ceilings on the pool price are not efficient. How does your analysis change if there are small economies of scale?