Preface to the Special Issue on Behavioral Queueing Science: The Need for a Multidisciplinary Approach

Abstract

Preface to the Special Issue on Behavioral Queueing Science: The Need for a Multidisciplinary ApproachModern service systems are economically important but operationally complex. In “Preface to the Special Issue on Behavioral Queueing Science: The Need for a Multidisciplinary Approach,” Ingolfsson, Mandelbaum, Schultz, and Yom-Tov discuss how this special issue advances the scientific study of queues in services systems by acknowledging the central role of human behavior. Behavioral queueing science requires a multidisciplinary approach, using tools that include mathematical modelling, lab experiments and field studies. Each discipline has strengths and weaknesses, but together they have complementing goals, and jointly they give rise to a scientific paradigm for behavioral queues. Cross-disciplinary work is challenging but necessary. The eleven papers in our special issue show how this can be done successfully while setting an example for future work.