Using the Pack‐and‐a‐Half Rule to Eliminate Backroom Inventories in Retail Operations

In the retail industry, backroom inventories are typically associated with higher labor costs and greater operational complexity. Thus, retailers look for ways to eliminate backroom inventories. A heuristic used for this purpose is the pack‐and‐a‐half rule which suggests that the shelf space allocated for a product should be at least 50% larger than the case pack quantity in which the product is delivered. Despite its popularity among retailers, the pack‐and‐a‐half rule has been ignored in the academic literature. We introduce the pack‐and‐a‐half rule, assess its impact on a retailer's profits, identify cost, demand, and product characteristics driving this impact, and propose a modification. Based on an analysis of data obtained from a retailer on 1,986 SKUs in 20 categories, we find that the pack‐and‐a‐half rule decreases a retailer's profits, on average, by 10% when applied uniformly across all SKUs. Further, this decrease is significantly affected by product depth, product width, demand elasticity, case pack quantity, and inventory carrying cost. Finally, we develop a set of modifications based on these variables where the pack‐and‐a‐half rule is applied selectively and in a stepwise fashion. These modifications limit the decrease in a retailer's profits to a range between 6% and 7%.     

粮食主产区耕地健康产能评价 ——以河南省温县为例

研究目的:探寻适合中国新时代耕地产能评价的新理论与方法,界定耕地健康产能内涵,构建评价指标体系,并应用河南省温县验证。研究方法:基于"需求—功能—维度—要素—指标"理论框架,构建耕地健康产能评价指标体系,运用综合算法、"1+X"累加模型法、图层叠加法定量评价耕地健康产能。研究结果:(1)温县耕地产能和耕地健康诊断结果地域分异特征明显,以青峰岭为界,北部耕地产能和健康状况较南部好;(2)耕地健康产能整体状况良好,乡镇间差异明显;(3)耕地健康产能结果更多取决于耕地健康诊断,主要受耕地生产环境和耕地系统弹性影响。研究结论:耕地健康产能评价指标体系和评价方法有应用性。     

经营规模、契约特征对新型农业经营主体农地整治积极性的影响——基于5省15县的调研

研究目的：分析经营规模、农地契约特征对农业经营主体农地整治行为与程度的影响。研究方法：采用Probit和Tobit模型对465位经营者调查数据进行实证分析。研究结果：（1）对于绝大多数农业经营主体，经营规模扩大对农地整治积极性存在微弱的负向影响；（2）农地经营面积和转入比例对土地类整治积极性存在负向影响，但相对设施类整治，农业经营者开展土地类整治的积极性更低；（3）契约价格、契约形式、契约对象为村集体、转入农地时具有担保等契约特征对农业经营者农地整治积极性存在显著影响，但契约时长的影响并不显著。研究结论：现阶段要提高新型农业经营者的农地整治积极性，有必要从多方面完善农地契约，而扩大农地流转规模和延长契约期限不一定有效。     

农地流转对农户生计转型影响的实证分析

[目的]为清晰识别土地流转对农户生计转型的影响程度,以期为后期土地流转政策及农户生计引导政策提供科学的决策依据。[方法]文章借鉴已有研究方法,基于农户可持续生计分析框架,利用内蒙古4个市区的380户农户样本数据,采用Multinomial Logit模型对参与土地流转和未参与土地流转农户的生计模式进行了分析,客观评价农村土地流转对农户生计转型的影响。[结果]农地流转在一定程度上对农户的生计转型产生了显著影响,拥有较低自然资本和较高金融资本的农户倾向混合型和务工型生计策略,同时人力资本水平高的家庭更倾向于采取混合型生计策略,而不是采取农业型生计策略。[结论]农地流转后,农户从繁重的种植业活动中得以解放,有了更多时间和精力从事非农生产活动,生计策略由单一化走向多样化,从传统的主要依赖种植业到经营养殖业、从事建筑业、交通运输业、批发零售业等非农行业,多元化了农户的收入来源。     

Co-ordination of land exploitation,exploitable farmland reserves and national planning in China

Land exploitation, as an important strategy to mitigate farmland loss and stabilize grain production, has been adopted to compensate farmland loss due to rapid urbanization in China. Bounded by the limited capacity and obvious spatial variations of national farmland reserves, it is essential to arrange land exploitation activities timely and reasonably. In this study, we propose an indicator for the status of regional land exploitation, the Exploitation Degree, to facilitate an overview of land exploitation programs in China at both provincial and prefectural levels based on project data from 2006 to 2012. To further our understanding of the regional features of land exploitation activities, we employ the Lasso model to identify and quantitatively assess influencing factors on land exploitation. Our study shows that: (1) contemporary land exploitation practices in China are significantly inconsistent across exploitable farmland reserves. Some areas are greatly over-exploited and such irrational land exploitation has been persistent; (2) related national land plans designed to guide land exploitation efforts centered on resource-rich regions and critical areas do not function as intended. Therefore, we suggest that China⿿s land exploitation policy shall be improved by reconsidering the orientation of land exploitation policy, coordinating land exploitation activities with productivity improvements and eco-system protection, and enhancing the power and scope of the plans in controlling and guiding land resource management.     

Anthropogenic and topographic correlates of natural vegetation cover within agricultural landscape mosaics in Turkey

Natural vegetation enhances the value of agricultural landscapes for people and wildlife. However, the role of anthropogenic versus topographic factors in driving the extent of natural vegetation cover within agricultural lands at large spatial scales remains unexplored. I assessed the influence of anthropogenic and topographic variables on the extent of agricultural mosaics with high natural vegetation cover in the country of Turkey where a large extent of natural and semi-natural vegetation is maintained by traditional agriculture. GIS layers depicting human land use, elevation, slope, roads and population data were obtained and summarized at two spatial scales, within provinces and for 100 km² grid cells covering the country’s entire agricultural land area. Average farm size was also obtained at province level. Hierarchical Partitioning was conducted to determine the independent effect of anthropogenic and topographic variables on the variation in agriculture with high natural vegetation. Slope had the largest independent effect on the variation in the proportion of agricultural mosaic with high natural vegetation cover. The extent of agricultural and settlement area also explained much of the variation in natural vegetation across both grid cells and provinces. The proportion of natural vegetation increased as human population and road density decreased across grid cells and as average farm size decreased across provinces. These results suggest that while topography is the primary driver of natural vegetation cover within agricultural mosaics in Turkey, the pressures associated with urban development and agricultural industrialization may also influence the cultural and wildlife value of agricultural landscapes.     

贵州省农地流转现状及制约因素研究

新形势下,做好农地流转工作,寻找制约土地流转的关键因素是迫切而重要的。文章通过抽样调查与数理统计方法,对贵州省7个典型县(区)的358户农户家庭进行实地问卷调查。通过数据分析,归纳总结了目前贵州省农地流转的现状,挖掘出制约农地流转的相关因素。研究结果认为:(1)农地流转规模差异主要表现在流转方式、流转对象及流转规模等3个方面。流转的主要方式为转让与出租,流转规模总体偏小,流转对象大部分限于农户之间。(2)制约因素主要受到地理环境因素、土地价格因素、农户自身因素及政策制度等4个层面影响。经过实际调研,该文提出大力发展地方经济、提高政府在土地流转中的作用,提高农民认知水平,完善农地流转政策法规体系等方面可行对策建议,对加快贵州省城乡一体化建设、提高农地流转效率、推动农村经济快速发展都具有重要的理论意义与现实基础。     

陕西省农地经营权流转服务体系建设浅析

2011年《陕西省人民政府关于促进农村土地承包经营权流转的指导意见》发布以来,陕西省农地经营权流转发展迅速,农业生产效益得到明显提高;但仍存在土地产权不明晰、农地经营权流转市场不成熟、农地经营权流转法律法规不健全等问题,严重限制农地经营权流转的速度与范围。文章采取实地查勘、问卷调查、走访农户、搜集数据及逻辑分析等方法,针对陕西省农地经营权流转的现状、问题、成因进行实地调研,并提出加强陕西省农地经营权流转服务体系建设的合理化建议:(1)通过土地确权、规范农地经营权流转流程,提高农地经营权流转效率;(2)通过发展现代农业电商平台、保险、智库、创客空间,提高农业收益。     

3s技术在基本农田调查清理中的应用——以重庆市巫山县为例

划定永久基本农田是实现耕地保护目标的重要手段,为做好永久基本农田调整完善工作需要对基本农田现状进行调查清理,以重庆市巫山县为例,提供基于3S技术支撑的技术方法和工作思路。结果表明,以3S技术手段进行基本农田现状调查清理,能快速、准确查清基本农田现状数据中不符合基本农田划定要求的地类,能满足基本农田动态监测的需要,将更好地在基本农田划定与保护中得以应用。     

计量体系的建设与应用

计量体系包括标准的建设及以技术为手段的计量管理。标准是衡量质量高低的基本依据,各项标准的实施,又要以相应的计量检测和科学的计量管理为技术手段和管理基础。企业计量体系运行的成功与否,直接关系到产品质量结果的控制。经过陕西省质量技术监督初审和2次复查考核,2008年1月份,建标申请经考核合格后获得了授权,并于2月份,压力类强检仪表也获得了对内强检资质。长庆油田分公司第二采气厂计量体系的建设与运行步入正规化、运行基本实现了专业化。