BUILDING CARS TO CUSTOMER ORDER — WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR INBOUND LOGISTICS OPERATIONS?

The automotive industry is undergoing a strategic transition. Cost pressure from rising stock levels in the market and increasing incentives needed to sell these vehicles are forcing vehicle manufacturers to rethink their prevalent “stock‐push” approach, building vehicles against a forecast and selling from stock, in favor of a stock‐less “build‐to‐order” order fulfillment strategy. More responsive order fulfillment at the vehicle manufacturer level however will not only require flexible and responsive component supply, but will also have wide ramifications for the logistics operations. Based on three case studies of major inbound logistics operations, this exploratory study assesses their ability to support such a build‐to‐order approach, as well as the potential implications of such transition. The paper concludes with a set of general strategies for how these implications could be mitigated.     

Changes in the Finnish Wage Structure: Will Demand and Supply Do?

This study addresses changes in the wage structure in Finland between 1977 and 1995, and provides a simple explanation based on the demand for and supply of skills. The single index model of Card and Lemieux (1996) is augmented by incorporating changes in the supply of skills. The augmented model adequately accounts for the changes in relative wages between groups of different education and experience, but does not capture the changes in the within-group distribution.
JEL classification : J 31     

THE LAST MILE: AN EXAMINATION OF EFFECTS OF ONLINE RETAIL DELIVERY STRATEGIES ON CONSUMERS

The Internet has increased the level of importance of the end‐consumer market to transportation carriers. In two between subject experiments, carrier disclosure on retail merchant websites is examined as a strategic differentiation strategy. Predictions are offered concerning effects of carrier disclosure strategies on product delivery‐related expectations, consumer attitudes, and intentions to purchase a product online. Results from Study 1 reveal significant differences between disclosure and nondisclosure of the carrier for numerous product delivery‐related variables, as well as many differences between the six carriers examined in this first study. Study 2 extends these findings by showing that providing consumers with a choice of carrier leads to increased levels of satisfaction with the online experience and greater willingness to buy, relative to nondisclosure and disclosure strategies.     

Futures and forward price differential and the effect of marking‐to‐market: Australian evidence

The objective of this paper is to examine the effects of marking‐to‐market of futures contracts on the price differential between futures and forward contracts based on the predictions of the Cox, Ingersoll and Ross (1981) (CIR) model. Cox et al ., (1981) derive a series of propositions with respect to the relationship between futures and forward prices and a set of testable implications. These are tested empirically in this paper using Australian data from November 1991 to June 1997. The results provide evidence of the presence of significant futures and forward price differences, where the futures price is consistently below the forward price. Only partial support is found for the Cox et al ., (1981) propositions, implying that the effect of marking‐to‐market is not able to fully account for the price differential. Therefore, it is not possible to rule out the influence of other institutional factors on the futures‐forward price difference.     

论债转股

我国银行与企业之间的不良债务越来越多。如果这种情况继续下去,将导致企业破产,也会将银行拖垮,最终导致金融危机。债转股作为一种延缓矛盾和风险爆发时间应急性措施的债务重组手段,成功的关键在于是否能以此为契机,彻底转变企业经营管理机制和治理结构,使企业的产权明晰,将企业推向市场,在市场中生存和发展。     

安徽省城市用地扩展研究——以六安市为例

以六安市为例,利用相关城市统计资料、相关城市图件,对撤地设市十年来六安城区土地扩展情况进行研究,并分析其驱动力因素。得出撤地设市以来六安市城市扩展速度明显增加,尤其2008—2010年扩展量占十年来总扩展量的34．07％,且年均增加4．88kmu;城市扩展动态度和城市用地效率也呈现明显的上：升趋势。城市扩展及其方向受到了社会经济条件、人口、交通、政策等因素的影响。     

划拨土地使用权益基准地价评估方法探析

本文先简要介绍了几种常用的评估方法,并对划拨土地使用权权益基准地价评估进行研究,从而提出了基于土地增值收益分配理论的评估方法思路.     

政府采购制度:强化财政支出管理的必由之路

长期以来,我国财政资金使用效益不高,开支浪费大,监督机制不健全,并由此产生腐败现象,阻碍了经济的发展。建立政府采购制度是解决上述问题的重要途径,也是强化我国财政支出管理的必由之路     

Patents,Copyrights, and Trademarks in the Early Twenty-First Century: The New Relevance of Some Old Concepts of Intellectual Property Rights

SUMMARY

After laying an historical foundation of the concept of “promonopoly” legislation in the face of a U. S. public policy devoted, since 1890, to a generally antimonopoly position, this paper examines the relevance of recent changes in the three types of domestic promonopoly law: patent law, copyright law, and trademark law. During the last thirty years of the twentieth century, and especially during the last decade of that period, all three aspects of American promonopoly legislation were strengthened. The term of copyright was extended from a maximum of fifty-six years to the lifetime of the last-living author of a work plus seventy years and coverage was broadened to extend to recordings-by a number of means-of performances; patents were lengthened in duration from seventeen years to twenty; and the law of trademarks was modified to include protection for trademark holders against “dilution,” or loss of value of trademarks due to the acts of noncompetitors. The implications and rationales of these changes are examined in the context of their effect on business life at the beginning of the third millennium. While it is too soon since the majority of these changes in law went into effect to draw definitive conclusions concerning their ultimate consequences, it does appear that, in general, their thrust is to increase the value of intellectual property to its proprietors.     

论社区建设与城市化的关系

社区建设与城市化的关系不仅表现为二者是统一的、不可分割的整体。从其影响和互动看,二者又是相互促进、相辅相成的关系。城市化为社区建设提供契机、动力和示范作用;社区建设为城市化奠定坚实的基础,并大大推动城市化进程和巩固城市化发展的成果。