Texas Prototypes找准定位

居于印刷电路板(PCB)的设计与生产之间的工作实在是既耗时又耗精力的黑洞,正是这些环节需要重配置、重写、测试以及再测试等工作。Texas Prototypes抓住这些黑洞并且将之转化成了美妙的sweet spot(最佳位置)。     

Adapting cases for a team approach

When groups of students are assigned a joint case, they are most likely to achieve the objectives of positive interdependence, individual accountability, heterogeneous interactions, and attention to group processing when the case assignment is selected and designed to promote common task activities by each participant. This article provides aids for selecting appropriate cases for a team approach, structuring assignments into individual and group components, forming teams effectively, and structuring peer feedback. The technique of assignment design is both described and applied to the “Corn & Hogs” case from Cases on Recognition and Measurement from the FASB [Johnson, L. T., & Petrone, K. R. (1996a). The FASB cases on recognition and measurement (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley]. In addition, a list of published case resources is provided for instructors to use with this pedagogy.     

THE COST OF THE U.S. SUGAR PROGRAM REVISITED

The article analyzes the welfare cost of the U.S. sugar program using a multimarket model of U.S. sweetener markets. The latter includes raw crops, sugar extraction and refining, and sweetener users (food-processing industries and final consumers). The authors address the industrial organization of food industries using sweeteners and treat the United States as a large importer. With the removal of the program, this article estimates (all figures in 1999 dollars) that in 1998 cane growers, sugar beet growers, and processors would have lost $307, $650, and $89 million, respectively; sweetener users would have gained $1.9 billion. World prices would have increased by 13.2%. The deadweight loss of the program is estimated at $532 million.     

Voucher Privatization: A detour on the road to transition?

We explore an overlooked aspect of the design of the Czech voucher privatization programme, namely, the consequences of allowing individuals to distribute their vouchers among the voucher privatization funds (VPFs). We develop and analyse a model of voucher privatization in which we study the problem facing individuals who invest their vouchers in VPFs which, in turn, are able to use their skills to alter the performances of the firms in which they acquire shares. The VPFs have different skills and, by their bids and subsequent joint ownership patterns, affect the performances of the firms in their funds. We show that even in the case in which voucher holders have identical and full information, and wish to allocate their vouchers to the VPFs in a manner consistent with the maximization of economy–wide profit, a coordination failure generally prevents the implementation of this efficient outcome. Uncertainty, as well as differing payouts by the VPFs, is shown to exacerbate the problem. We conclude that there was an inherent flaw in the design of the Czech voucher scheme. JEL classification: D44, L33, P21, G11.     

Die Internationalisierung der Forschung

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Estimating the expected marginal rate of substitution: A systematic exploitation of idiosyncratic risk

We develop a methodology to estimate the shadow risk free rate or expected intertemporal marginal rate of substitution, “EMRS”. Our technique relies upon exploiting idiosyncratic risk, since theory dictates that idiosyncratic shocks earn the EMRS. We apply our methodology to recent monthly and daily data sets for the New York and Toronto Stock Exchanges. We estimate EMRS with precision and considerable time-series volatility, subject to an identification assumption. Both markets seem to be internally integrated; different assets traded on a given market share the same EMRS. We reject integration between the stock markets, and between stock and money markets.     

需要应对的不仅是RoHS

在减轻电子设备的制造和废弃对环境的影响方面,欧盟的ROHS和“废弃电气与电子设备(WEEE)”法令起到了领路作用。中国、日本、韩国、美国等国家目前都在制订类似的法律。