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Bias Analysis of Experiments for Multi-Item Multi-Period Inventory Control Policies

Xinqi Chen, Xingyu Bai, Zeyu Zheng, Nian Si

arXiv 21 Jan 2025 · Statistics — Methodology · 1 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2501.11996 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

Randomized experiments, or A/B testing, are the gold standard for evaluating interventions but are underutilized in the area of inventory management. This study addresses this gap by analyzing A/B testing strategies in multi-item, multi-period inventory systems with lost sales and capacity constraints. We examine switchback experiments, item-level randomization, pairwise randomization, and staggered rollouts, analyzing their biases theoretically and comparing them through numerical experiments. Our findings provide actionable guidance for selecting experimental designs across various contexts in inventory management.

Citation extraction

114
references
137
in-text mentions
114
distinct cited
5
self-citations
12,582
main-text words

appendix boundary found by appendix_command · 56% of the source is main text. Read the extracted text to check this.

Most heavily cited references

The works this paper leans on most, across its whole bibliography — not restricted to papers in our corpus. Ranked by composite intensity, which combines how often a work is mentioned, how many sections mention it, and how much of that falls in the main text rather than the appendix.

ReferenceIntensityMentionsSectionsMain text
1Wang, Yangyang and Gu, Jiawei and Long, Li and Li, Xin and Shen, Li… (2025) FreshRetailNet-50K: A Stockout-Annotated Censored Demand Dataset for Latent Demand Recovery and Forecasting in Fresh Retail0.8434375%
2Shi, Cong and Chen, Weidong and Duenyas, Izak (2016) Nonparametric data-driven algorithms for multiproduct inventory systems with censored demand0.73732100%
3Erlebacher, Steven J (2000) Optimal and heuristic solutions for the multi-item newsvendor problem with a single capacity constraint0.64422100%
4Ignall, Edward and Veinott Jr, Arthur F (1969) Optimality of myopic inventory policies for several substitute products0.64422100%
5Johari, Ramesh and Li, Hannah and Liskovich, Inessa and Weintraub, G… (2022) Experimental design in two-sided platforms: An analysis of bias0.58531100%
6Agrawal, Shipra and Jia, Randy (2019) Learning in structured mdps with convex cost functions: Improved regret bounds for inventory management0.51121100%
7Bajari, Patrick and Burdick, Brian and Imbens, Guido W and Masoero,… (2023) Experimental design in marketplaces0.51121100%
8Basse, Guillaume W and Soufiani, Hossein Azari and Lambert, Diane (2016) Randomization and the pernicious effects of limited budgets on auction experiments0.51121100%
9Bojinov, Iavor and Simchi-Levi, David and Zhao, Jinglong (2023) Design and analysis of switchback experiments0.51121100%
10Bright, Ido and Delarue, Arthur and Lobel, Ilan (2024) Reducing marketplace interference bias via shadow prices0.51121100%

Showing the top 10 of 114 scored citations.

Cited by, within the corpus

arXiv econ.EM papers that cite this one, ranked by how heavily they lean on it.

Citing paperIntensityMentionsSections
1Experimental Design for Matching0.40511