On sums and products of truncated exponential variates

Abstract

The distribution of any linear combination of a finite number of truncated exponential variates from possibly n distinct populations is obtained by using the Laplace transform. The distribution is demonstrated in a compact form which is quite suitable for computational purposes. The results are exemplified. Finally, a brief remark on the distribution of the product of truncated exponential variates is also added.     

Performance Management Systems in the Public Housing Sector: Dissemination to Diffusion

This article examines a case study of the implementation of a performance management system in public sector housing in Fiji. The aim is to explore and provide interpretations of why performance management and measures were introduced and implemented and reveal if the indicators were appropriate to serve the strategies of the organisation. The article draws on diffusion of innovation theory and explores the effectiveness of performance management. The research approach is qualitative in nature and uses a case study strategy. Interviews and documentary evidence provide the empirical basis for the research. The organisation has established formal objectives at both institutional and departmental levels and has a performance management system at both levels. With growing pressure for commercialisation from donor agencies, the accounting and managerial practices seem to contradict the organisation's original purpose to provide housing needs for the poor. The case study extends the literature on performance management in developing countries and illuminates the deficiencies within the performance management system. This study has implications for practitioners and researchers as it promotes a better understanding of a new public management practice technique which, in this case, was inadequate to satisfy local housing needs.     

Unbiased estimates of reliability for the truncated gamma distribution

Abstract

This paper derives the minimum variance unbiased estimate of the reliability function associated with the gamma distribution which is right truncated at a known point by using the classical minimum variance unbiased estimation method as outlined and initiated by Basu (1964). The techniques given are general and can be used to estimate not only the probability in the upper tail (reliability) of a distribution but also the probability content of any other region. In the sequel, the distribution of the minimal sufficient statistic, useful in inferential problems, is also obtained. A result of Basu is deduced as a particular case.     

Stability or growth: The rich nations’ dilemma

The article discusses the economic difficulties from which the industrialized nations have been suffering for the past years giving special regard to the controversy as to what concept of economic policy should be adopted in order to overcome the present problems.     

Toward a rapprochement between the two basic paradigms of educational research

Whereas the natural-science approach has promoted the application of the hypothetico-deductive paradigm, the humanistic approach has encouraged educational researchers to employ the interpretive/symbolic paradigm. These two paradigms are contrasting in their ontology, epistomology, human model and methodology. After comparing the perspectives of the above two approaches to educational research, some justifications have been offered for the utilization of symbolic/interpretive paradigm by emphasizing the need for naturalistic observations, qualitative data, semiotical analysis and intuitive inferences for gaining a better understanding of the teaching-learning process as also the social reality in which it takes place. Although the unification of the two approaches seems antithetical, still there are many empirical instances of the fusion between the two in the areas of perception, learning, remembering, creativity and classroom behaviour. The advantages in the integration of the two paradigms may be seen in the light of the changing conceptions of the world and models of man. For enriching educational research, we need both analytical and synthetic orientations, micro and macro data, statistical and clinical predictions, deductive and inductive inferences, as well as theoretic objectivity and practical valuations. The unification is expected to pave the way for more precision, objectivity as also synthesis in understanding different educational phenomena.     

What determines international tourist arrivals in India?

Using data for 18 major tourist originating countries to India from 2001 to 2015, this study examines the major determinants of international tourist arrivals in India. The results indicate that past experiences of the tourists, per capita income in the tourist originating country, relative costs of living between India and the country of origin, and the level of infrastructure development in India are key determinants of international tourist arrivals in India. Furthermore, both transportation and communication infrastructure are important in attracting tourists to India. In particular, evidence suggests that availability of road and air network and telephone connections has favourable impacts on international tourist arrivals in India. These results are robust to the inclusion of additional variables. These results have important policy implications.     

Capability hierarchy in electronic procurement and procurement process performance: An empirical analysis

This paper examines the interrelationship between two hierarchically structured functional capabilities pertinent in the organizational procurement process, and the impact of these capabilities on procurement process performance. These functional capabilities operate at different levels in an organization's procurement process. We draw upon resource- and knowledge-based views of the firm to theorize that in this hierarchy of information technology-enabled procurement capabilities, the higher-level capability – procurement integration competence – enables firms to develop and deploy a lower-level capability – digital procurement competence. Further, we theorize that the lower-level capability impacts procurement process performance directly and completely mediates the relationship between higher-level capability and performance. Thus, although performance is impacted directly only by the lower-level capability, the higher-level capability facilitates the development and use of the lower-level capability. Our research model is tested using survey data from a large sample of 412 manufacturing firms. The results provide strong support for the proposed research model. In particular, we find that as hypothesized, the impact of procurement integration competence on performance is completely mediated by digital procurement competence. Our results suggest that when examined at the procurement process level, the impact of higher-level capabilities may be manifested completely through the lower-level capabilities. Theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed.     

Currency futures market in India: an empirical analysis of market efficiency and volatility

As the Indian currency futures market has been in existence for over 7 years, this paper analyses the effectiveness of the 1-month USD/INR currency futures rates in predicting the expected spot rate. The volatility of the USD/INR spot returns was also analysed. Modelling volatility of the USD/INR spot rate using a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) and exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model indicated the presence of volatility clustering. Using multivariate GARCH models such as the constant conditional correlation and dynamic conditional correlation, signs of a volatility spillover between the USD/INR spot and currency futures market were also observed.     

The construction of career aspirations amongst healthcare support workers: beyond the rational and the mundane?

This article engages with a literature that views the limited career aspirations of low‐paid, low‐status workers as a reasonable response to material and structural constraints. Based on four hospital trust cases studies, the article contests this view, revealing how healthcare support workers in NHS England have retained the cognitive capacity to override such constraints to develop a strong and authentic career goal to become a nurse. This goal is acknowledged by the healthcare support workers themselves as unlikely to be achieved and is therefore presented as a flight from rationality. Its emergence is explained by workplace interactions that allow such an ambition to become taken‐for‐granted. The article deepens understanding of career ambitions amongst low‐paid, low‐status workers, while adding weight to a literature suggesting that career aspirations can be driven by values and norms, not only by a means‐end rationality.     

Scope versus speed: Team diversity,leader experience,and patenting outcomes for firms

Research Summary: How does the organization of patenting activity affect a firm's patenting outcomes? We investigate how the composition of patenting teams relates to both the scope of their patent applications and the speed with which their patents are approved, by examining the main effects of team members’ intra‐organizational diversity (based on affiliations with formal organizational units and informal organizational communities) and the moderating effects of team leader experience. We test our moderated mediation model in a sample of 121 teams that filed patents in a Fortune 50 company's India R&D center between 2005 and 2015, using proprietary employee data combined with newly released micro‐data from the U.S Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Our findings illuminate the micro‐foundations of innovation in firms by highlighting a trade‐off between organizing patenting activity to maximize scope versus speed. Managerial Summary: Patenting is an important strategic tool that firms can use to protect and create value from their innovations. A firm can benefit from filing a patent application that gives it a wider possible set of claims related to an innovation. It can also benefit from faster approval of a patent application by the Patent Office. However, our study shows that there is a trade‐off between patent application scope and patent approval speed, which creates tensions for the organization of patenting activities inside firms. In particular, we find that the diversity of a patenting team is positively related to patent scope but negatively related to patenting speed, and that these relationships vary with the experience of the team leader.