A Model of a Distribution Network Aggregate Performance

Abstract

A model to evaluate distribution network performance is developed extending earlier work by Hartung and Fisher [Hartung, P. H., Fisher, J. L. 1965. Brand switching and mathematical programming in market expansion. Management Sci. 11 (10, August) 231–243.]. Our model differs on two counts: (1) it explicitly considers market dynamics and (2) the transition probability functions are robust. It is applied to describe the competitive position of a brand of gasoline on the Italian retail market.