Competitive Analysis of the Online Financial Leasing Problem with Price Fluctuation under the Consumer Price Index

Abstract

Due to the unstable economy, price fluctuation is an important consideration in the leasing industry. The financial lease is an important financing tool to deal with the price fluctuation by acquiring the equipment at a fixed financial fee after a contract is obtained. The lessee can acquire ownership of equipment upon the expiration of the financial lease after making a series of payments for the use of the equipment. This paper studies the online financial leasing problem with price fluctuation, in which the lessee does not know how long he will use the required equipment. The price fluctuation in this paper is bounded by the definition of the consumer price index. The lessee can use the equipment through two options: operating lease or financial lease. We present an optimal online leasing strategy by using competitive analysis method. Besides, the computational experiments are conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the financial lease responding to price fluctuation.