A brief technology assessment of the Carbon Dioxide effect

Significant increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are occuring as a result of fossil fuel combustion. More than a four-fold increase over preindustrial levels may occur by the year 2100. Heating of the atmosphere, changes in precipitation patterns and global storm paths, and other resulting effects are sure to cause significant social changes. This article is essentially a methodological case study demonstrating a useful but inexpensive type of technology assessment. It summarizes current research findings on “the CO₂ effect,” and presents hitherto unpublished findings that resulted from a brief but systems-oriented approach. These findings suggest that most published forecasts of phenomena associated with a CO₂ buildup may be systematically low because various positive feedback relationships are not reflected.     

美国金融业对外直接投资流向的实证分析

美国1995年～2000年金融业对外直接投资流向分布极不均衡,对投资流向分布进行统计分析发现,非金融领域直接投资、1994年金融业对外直接投资存量、双边贸易量、东道国经济金融发展水平是金融业对外直接投资的主要决定因素,证明了邓宁国际生产折衷主义理论对金融业对外直接投资的解释力。据此简要分析美国对中国金融领域直接投资现状,并分析了今后发展趋势。     

Assessing the impact of patent infringement on new product sales

In order to assess the impact of patent infringement on the growth of a new product, a model is developed through the intervention model development processes of Box-Jenkins and Box-Tiao. Physical interpretations of model parameters and determination of associated damages suggest that the model can provide a sound basis for analyzing patent infringement disputes.     

The new logic of Japan's young generations

Through daily use of computer games and advanced cartoonized learning, the lower teen generation in Japan has developed an unprecedented ability for instantaneous contextual gestalt-based decision making and high-speed multidimensional simultaneous thinking. This is a radical departure from the sequential logic of older generations. This is a conclusion we can reach after examining the voluminous data available from a new research institute in Japan. The data also indicate that the young adult generation has developed unique strategies of life, which are fascinating but difficult to understand in the framework of our traditional logic but make sense as a transition to the logic of the lower teen generation.     

Technological substitution in the United States pulp and paper industry: The sulfate pulping process

This paper presents an econometric analysis of the diffusion of the sulfate pulping process throughout the U.S. pulp and paper industry. A dynamic equilibrium, Gompertz diffusion function is employed to derive a multivariate estimation model which incorporates more information than the traditional approach of estimating the growth rate function alone. The empirical results suggest that the econometric approach provides a useful integration of the technological diffusion process and the comparative static theory of demand. The sulfate pulping process is projected to continue capturing market share at a relatively rapid rate, and could account for 90% or more of total U.S. woodpulp production by the year 2000.     

美国反洗钱机制及对我国的启示

近年来,我国政府加大了反洗钱工作力度，反洗钱和反恐融资工作逐渐走上正轨，但与该领域的国际标准相比,仍然有较大差距.美国作为全球反洗钱领域的带头羊，其反洗钱的运作和手段确有高明之处。夏我们要善于学习和借鉴国际经验，不断发展与完善具有中国特色的反洗钱机制。     

Optimizing the credit term decisions in supply chain finance

We study a credit term determination problem in the context of a supplier-buyer supply chain. The supplier's credit term decision is simultaneously made with its production and inventory decisions, and most importantly, it is impacted by the buyer's order quantity. We present a new game-theoretic framework to model this problem, which captures the interaction between the supplier's credit term decision and the buyer's order decision in a multi-period setting. An exact method based on nonlinear programming is implemented to obtain the optimal solutions. We apply our methodologies on a real world case. The computational results show that our approach significantly outperforms the heuristics with fixed credit terms, and either a short or a long credit term can be sub-optimal for the supplier in profitability. Our work offers the first data-driven model and solution approach that assists purchasing and supply managers to make optimal dynamic credit term decision in conjunction with production, ordering and inventory decisions in a game-theoretic setting.     

The linking pin role in organizational buying centers

The buying center concept has been widely accepted in the organizational buying behavior literature. Nevertheless, the application of the concept in empirical investigations has been limited in scope. Most research has examined either the composition of the buying center or the influence processes operating within it. The intraorganizational dynamics (among members of the buying center) and the interorganizational dynamics (between buying center members and outside organizations) have been ignored in buying center research. Common to these two sets of relationships is the presence of a “linking pin” or “boundary role” person.The purposes of this paper are twofold. The first is to suggest the concept of the “linking pin” role in a buying center and to highlight the conceptual importance of this role in furthering the understanding and prediction of organizational buying processes and outcomes. Explication of this role should also lead to an enriched conceptualization of the relationships between the buying and selling organizations. The second objective is to report on the results of some initial empirical investigations into the role of a designated linking pin in hospital buying centers. These results offer preliminary evidence of the value of the linking pin concept.     

Cross-national product value perceptions

Can a psychographic variable, i.e., a value perception of a product, be successfully compared across national boundaries? Using students in four countries, the authors tested for similarity in a two-stage process. Value perception was tested by comparing samples using only the owners of the products first, and then using only the nonowners. Similarities were found that bridge national borders. These similarities are evident where the respondents sampled are owners of the base products or have a high degree of market knowledge regarding these products.