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Main Authors: Blanco, Víctor, Camacho-Vallejo, José-Fernando, Corpus, Carlos
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.00561
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author Blanco, Víctor
Camacho-Vallejo, José-Fernando
Corpus, Carlos
author_facet Blanco, Víctor
Camacho-Vallejo, José-Fernando
Corpus, Carlos
contents This paper introduces the Bilevel Tree-of-Hubs Location Problem with Prices (BTHLPwP). The BTHLPwP is a multiple-allocation hub location problem in which, in addition to determining the nodes and links of a tree-shaped hub backbone network, the prices for using this network must also be set. We assume that two different types of agents make decisions in this problem. On the one hand, one agent (the leader) determines the structure and sets the prices for using the hub backbone network. On the other hand, the other agent (follower) decides on the optimal usage of the network. The leader seeks to maximize its profit, while the follower aims to minimize the costs incurred for using the network to ship their commodities. We present a bilevel optimization formulation for this problem, followed by an equivalent single-level reformulation. Then, we propose a novel Co-Evolutionary Algorithm (Co-EA) to solve three well-known datasets of instances adapted for our problem. The main novelty of the proposed Co-EA lies in the way the co-evolving populations are considered. While traditionally one population focuses on the leader's solutions and the other on the follower's, in our approach, each population is associated with a subset of the leader's decision variables. Consequently, the follower's optimal reaction is obtained for a specific decision made by the leader, resulting in bilevel feasible solutions. We then analyze the results obtained from extensive computational experimentation using the proposed Co-EA.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_00561
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Novel Co-Evolutionary Algorithm for Solving a Bilevel Pricing and Hubs Location Problem under a Tree Topology
Blanco, Víctor
Camacho-Vallejo, José-Fernando
Corpus, Carlos
Optimization and Control
This paper introduces the Bilevel Tree-of-Hubs Location Problem with Prices (BTHLPwP). The BTHLPwP is a multiple-allocation hub location problem in which, in addition to determining the nodes and links of a tree-shaped hub backbone network, the prices for using this network must also be set. We assume that two different types of agents make decisions in this problem. On the one hand, one agent (the leader) determines the structure and sets the prices for using the hub backbone network. On the other hand, the other agent (follower) decides on the optimal usage of the network. The leader seeks to maximize its profit, while the follower aims to minimize the costs incurred for using the network to ship their commodities. We present a bilevel optimization formulation for this problem, followed by an equivalent single-level reformulation. Then, we propose a novel Co-Evolutionary Algorithm (Co-EA) to solve three well-known datasets of instances adapted for our problem. The main novelty of the proposed Co-EA lies in the way the co-evolving populations are considered. While traditionally one population focuses on the leader's solutions and the other on the follower's, in our approach, each population is associated with a subset of the leader's decision variables. Consequently, the follower's optimal reaction is obtained for a specific decision made by the leader, resulting in bilevel feasible solutions. We then analyze the results obtained from extensive computational experimentation using the proposed Co-EA.
title A Novel Co-Evolutionary Algorithm for Solving a Bilevel Pricing and Hubs Location Problem under a Tree Topology
topic Optimization and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.00561