Using performance-based warranties to influence consumer purchase decisions

Abstract

Traditional warranty analysis focuses on the reliability of a product and offers warranty designs that compensate a consumer if the item fails. We introduce the concept of a performance-based warranty (PBW) that guarantees that a product will operate at or above some baseline level of performance, such as a minimum energy efficiency for an appliance. We illustrate how consumer behavior can change in the presence of a PBW and define the parameters for which a manufacturer may increase revenue. Finally, we present an algorithm to solve for the optimal PBW design given a consumer’s belief about the expected performance of the product.     

我们为什么选择了社会主义市场经济

我们选择市场经济，是因为迄今为止的历史证明市场经济是可以富其国裕其民的。然而，我们所要的富裕，不是少数人的富裕，而是人民群众的共同富裕。不仅要富裕，而且必须是共同富裕的市场经济。因此，我们必须对市场经济进行改造，创造出我们自己的市场经济，这就是有中国特色的社会主义市场经济。该文遵循实事求是和历史唯物主义的原则，从市场经济旨在提高效率、社会主义则是坚持党的领导和社会公正、路径依赖和历史沿革体现了市场经济的中国特色等四个方面论证了中国共产党领导全国人民选择社会主义市场经济是一个具有历史必然性的伟大选择。这样的选择使得中国经济发展和人民富裕。     

Introduction to the policy articles on Trump to Biden: Implications for Canadian Agriculture

President Biden was sworn in on January 20, 2021 after a 4‐year term by President Trump. Certainly, Trump's norm breaking presidency impacted Canada in significant ways and the agricultural sector was no exception. In this issue, we have a set of four short articles discussing the possible implications on Canadian agriculture of transitioning from a Trump to Biden presidency. Issues related to Canada‐U.S. agricultural trade, political norms and uncertainty, U.S. domestic support, participation in trade agreements, and U.S.‐China relations are all considered.     

Blockchain in Additive Manufacturing and its Impact on Supply Chains

Additive manufacturing (AM) appears to be a particularly attractive use case for blockchain. This research combines inductive in‐depth interviews with the Delphi method to explore what potentials blockchain technology in AM creates, which adoption barriers firms need to overcome, and how supply chains will be affected by the integration of these two potentially disruptive technologies. The results suggest opportunities that are related to intellectual property (IP) rights management, the monitoring of printed parts throughout their lifecycle, process improvements, and data security. The most important barriers for blockchain adoption in AM are an absence of blockchain‐skilled specialists on the labor market, missing governance mechanisms, and a lack of firm‐internal technical expertise. By addressing important limitations of AM, blockchain is expected to improve the competitiveness of AM in parts’ production, catalyzing the trend toward more decentralized manufacturing resulting in more agile, resilient, and flexible supply chains and reduced logistics costs. Beyond that, blockchain‐based AM platforms are expected to enhance supply chain visibility, drive supply chain digitalization, support supply chain finance, and contribute to the emergence of shared factory systems.     

乡村旅游核心利益相关者协调发展评价研究——以青海省海东市互助土族自治县小庄村为例

文章基于利益相关者理论的视角，选取青海省海东市互助县小庄村为案例地，通过田野调查和文献梳理分析出核心利益相关者的利益诉求和矛盾冲突，并构建乡村旅游核心利益相关者协调发展评价体系，采用EWM-Fuzzy综合评价模型和灰色关联模型对地方政府、旅游企业、社区居民及外来游客四类核心利益相关者利益诉求的紧急程度、利益关系协调发展状态及整体协调发展关系进行测评分析。研究表明，小庄村四类核心利益相关者对不同利益诉求的整体感知较好，不同利益诉求的紧急程度和协调发展状态均存在如下较大差异:四类核心利益相关者的利益诉求主要处于中度协调和轻度协调两种发展状态，优质协调发展状态的利益诉求表现相对较少，且存在濒临失调发展状态的利益诉求表现；小庄村旅游核心利益相关者相互间的协调发展关系呈现出多元化的发展状态，地方政府、旅游企业同其他利益相关者的利益关系协调发展的影响大小顺序完全一致，地方政府、社区居民同其他利益相关者的利益关系协调发展的影响大小顺序相对应，而外来游客、社区居民同其他利益相关者的利益关系协调发展的影响大小顺序基本相反；小庄村旅游核心利益相关者协调发展路径组合未达到纳什均衡状态，其协调发展模式为非对称互惠协调发展模式。上述验证结果与小庄村旅游发展的实际情况基本吻合，证明了评价体系的科学性。     

Can investors time their exposure to private equity?

Private equity performance, both for buyouts and venture capital, has been highly cyclical: periods of high fundraising have been followed by periods of low performance. Despite this seemingly predictable variation, we find modest gains, at best, to pursuing realistic, investable strategies that time capital commitments to private equity. This occurs, in part, because investors can only time their commitments to funds; they cannot time when commitments are called or when investments are exited. There is a high degree of time-series correlation in net cash flows even across commitment strategies that allocate capital in a very different manner over time.     

A Real Options Model of Real Estate Development with Entitlement Risk

Most development projects encounter a highly uncertain entitlement process that is largely uncontrollable by developers. In this study, entitlement is modeled as a separate stage within a compound real option, where developers begin with minimal control (maximum risk) and each successful stage increases control (decreases risk). We solve the model analytically, provide three‐dimensional numerical comparisons, and empirically test the model's predictions using hand collected rezoning petitions. Our main result refines the classic development option model: developers first invest early (secure entitlements) in order to obtain the option to subsequently delay investment (construct the optimal building at the optimal time).