The lead-time reliability paradox and inconsistent value-of-reliability estimates

The value-of-reliability (VOR) reflects the savings in inventory-system costs from more reliable (less variable) lead times. Previous studies have revealed that more reliable, but positively skewed, lead times could actually increase optimal safety inventory when the probability of satisfying all demand during a replenishment cycle drops below 70%. Researchers claim that this paradox affects most firms and that it explains the inconsistent VOR estimates found in the transportation economics literature. Our investigation reveals that firms interested in high product availability may safely ignore the paradox and that less lead-time variability consistently increases VOR, the paradox notwithstanding.     

Rail-transit-induced gentrification and the affordability paradox of TOD

Numerous studies have shown that rail transit has a positive effect on raising property values and tax revenues. Such an effect is widely viewed as an economic benefit for property owners and is key to justifying the high cost of building rail transit infrastructure. In recent years, however, concerns have been raised about rail transit acting as a gentrification trigger and causing the affordability paradox. In this study, I evaluate whether rail transit in suburban Portland caused neighborhood gentrification and reduced home affordability through a longitudinal quasi-experimental design. I use the propensity score matching method to identify control neighborhoods for rail-transit-served neighborhoods. I then make pretest-posttest comparisons between rail-transit-served neighborhoods and their control neighborhoods at multiple observation points. In general, I did not find consistent evidence for rail-transit-induced gentrification in suburban Portland. I did not find evidence that rail transit reduced home affordability for tenants and home owners in rail transit-served neighborhoods either. I observed more changes in the neighborhoods served by the Eastside line (the oldest rail transit line in Portland) than their control neighborhoods in the past three decades: socially, they attracted older and less-educated population; physically, they experienced densification and faster increases of the share of rental units in their housing stock. Rail transit was more likely to be installed along low-income neighborhoods in suburban Portland, confirming the necessity of constructing appropriate control neighborhoods while evaluating the neighborhood and social effects of rail transit.     

Capacity dynamics and the formulation of the airport capacity/stability paradox: A European perspective

Access to capacity is often considered to be uncertain, causing airlines to build buffer times into their flight schedules in anticipation of potential delays. Similarly, air navigation service providers use capacity buffers to overcome potential safety standard violations. However, the use of excessive buffers is detrimental to cost efficiency in the air transport system. This paper improves our understanding of capacity predictability. The concepts of capacity dynamics and stability are taken as integral parts of an airport's plan to mitigate the risk of capacity degradation. Based on the concepts of capacity dynamics and stability, the capacity/stability paradox is introduced and discussed.     

身体与灵魂的“裸奔”

冬去春来,告别了雪季的西藏天天都是阳光灿烂的日子,一切都清晰地呈现在眼前：碧蓝的苍穹、墨绿的草原、肥沃的牧场、连绵的雪山和一个个明镜般闪亮的圣湖。此时,藏族小孩开始光着屁股在草地上肆意地奔跑,而我的灵魂也飘到某个角落,开始自在的“裸奔”……     

进化博弈论与经济体制的演进

进化博弈论是博弈论在生物学领域的应用。近年来 ,由于其在解释制度 (包括正式的和非正式的 )均衡与变迁方面的巨大作用而日益受到重视。但这一研究目前在我国尚未开展。本文分析了传统博弈论的局限 ,在此基础上介绍了进化博弈论的主要观点 ,并认为其对我国正在进行的经济体制改革有着极强的借鉴意义。     

The impact of Air Service Agreement liberalisation: The case of Nigeria

The positive impact of air transport liberalisation as suggested by economic theories and empirical studies has inspired many developing countries like Nigeria to liberalise some of its Air Service Agreements (ASAs). This paper seeks to examine the extent to which international air service liberalisation has impacted upon Nigeria ten years after it was introduced. The research developed a cross-sectional model with passenger traffic as the dependent variable, while macroeconomic factors (trade and GDP), historical links, distance and ASAs (a proxy for liberalisation) served as independent or predictor variables. The analysis revealed a set of ASA stages in the country's policy-making process (restricted Bilateral Air Service Agreement, Open Skies Agreement and Yamoussoukro Declaration). Further analysis showed that the predictor variables were all significant in explaining passenger demand. The model demonstrated that the liberalisation of market access to the Open Skies Agreement level could stimulate traffic growth by at least 65 percent. The findings can assist in guiding policy and industry stakeholders in future decisions relating to liberalisation and ASAs.     

The dark side of making transit irresistible: The example of France

The French experience in developing policies to reduce car use in metropolitan areas is presented in this paper as an illustration of the lack of recognition of the broader set of criteria on which specific policy frameworks should be judged. One of the major challenges, and often failings of policies focussed on reducing car use, is the lack of a structure that ensures that the downside impacts are not relocated to other parts of a system such that potential gains end up being eroded by the potential losses. We draw on experiences throughout France, as well as case studies in Lyon, to highlight the dark side of French transport policy promoting a switch from car to public transit and non-motorised modes, in terms of financial, equity and environmental outcomes.     

Watching narratives of travel-as-transformation in The Beach and The Motorcycle Diaries

The attention recently accorded to feature films in tourism studies has been mostly driven by the idea that cinema has the ability to provoke in the viewer a sense of anticipation regarding a given or potential tourist destination. Films, however, also play an important role in shaping our notions of what a tourist experience should be. One of the most common tropes in travel or tourism-related films has been the trope of the journey as a transformative or ‘life-changing experience’. This paper explores the connections between this recurrent trope and the classical narrative film. Broadly consisting of a character-centred narrative in which events are organised by causal logic, moving towards the resolution of an initial problem or crisis, the classical narrative film relies heavily upon the idea of change (the turning point which prepares the way for denouement) and is, therefore, particularly prone to depictions of tourism as a life-changing experience. Despite innovations introduced from the 1960s onwards, most mainstream travel films still follow this narrative scheme. This paper analyses two of these films, The Beach (2000, dir. Danny Boyle) and The Motorcycle Diaries (2004, dir. Walter Salles), which have been widely discussed in relation to tourism, underlining how they support notions of travelling as a source of transformation, sidestepping more banal kinds of experiences. Drawing on a large sample of online film reviews, I argue that viewers are not unaware of this bias, which they often reproduce, comment upon and challenge.     

“三个代表”思想和从严治党

“三个代表”思想是新时期从严治党的指导方针,必须将其贯彻到党的思想建设、政治建设、组织建设、作风建设、制度建设和廉政建设等各项工作中去。从严治党是落实“三个代表”思想的必然选择,是中国问题的关键,是新的形势和任务向我们提出的必然要求,是建设党的高素质干部队伍的需要。     

体制改革是甘肃交通发展的根本动因

新中国成立60年来，甘肃省交通面貌发生了翻天覆地的变化。如果说公路里程的增加、路面等级的提高、站场设施的完善、车辆档次的提高是“显性”变化的话，交通体制机制的变迁无疑是交通发展最有力的“隐性”推手。     

对铁路物流企业抑尘服务定价模式的思考

铁路是国民经济的大动脉,铁路运输是现代化运输业的主要运输方式之一,相比于其他运输方式具有连续性、运量大、成本低等特点。在铁路运输主营业务下,有一定数量的非运输经营企业依托于铁路线投资建设了许多货场,并在货场上开展物流延伸各项服务。合理确定收费价格是提高企业经营效益的关键,就某铁路物流企业煤炭抑尘服务如何定价展开讨论。     

地方铁路运营管理模式及方案选择

根据我国地方铁路近50年的建设管理经验,分析地方铁路的主要运营管理中委托国营铁路管理、委托区域内第三方集团(公司)管理和自主运营管理3种模式的优缺点。并以拟建的赤大白地方铁路为例,提出了地方铁路运营管理模式的方案选择建议。     

The strategic impact of airline group diversification: The cases of Emirates and Lufthansa

The airline industry is a diverse sector, requiring the support of a varied range of ancillary businesses such as maintenance, catering and travel agencies to carry out its activities. Many of these supporting businesses demonstrate the potential to drive wider profit margins despite generating lower revenues than the airlines themselves, making them attractive investment opportunities in a sector prone to volatile and often lacklustre trading. This study investigates two of the largest diversified airline groups, Germany's Lufthansa Group and Dubai's Emirates Group, each adopting a distinct approach towards diversification that may serve as a model for airline groups worldwide. The areas investigated were Cargo, Maintenance, Catering and Travel Services. The research found that whilst diversification may not always present the most attractive option financially, strategic factors can often outweigh such concerns. Business units studied were found to have variable prospects; particularly in the case of Catering, a sector on the rise – versus in-house Maintenance, which for airlines, is likely to see decline. The pursuit of third party revenue streams to offset weak internal trading and growth in competencies were found to be the key drivers of success. Interplay between segments was also apparent, showing that a well-organised diversification strategy can achieve robust cross-functional benefits and deliver significant value to the parent organisation.     

The representation of travel and identity in Bernardo Bertolucci's The sheltering sky

This study aims to analyse the representation of travel in movies by analysing Bernando Bertolucci's movie [Aldrich, W., Thomas, J. (Producers), & Bertolucci, B. (Director). (1990). The sheltering sky [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Bros]. Filmic travelogues are intended here as illustrations of a process of discovery and transformation of identity from a post-modern perspective. The questioning of the self happens through a journey to a timeless place which managed to preserve a sense of the past. The characters' transformation from tourists to travellers and nomads becomes a kind of pilgrimage in search of authenticity. In this perspective, the desert comes to represent a more general emptiness surrounding and inside the characters. The theories formulated by Bauman, Urry, MacCannell and Wang are central to this analysis, including the subjects of the quest of authenticity, the distinction between travellers and tourists and the files of representation.     

论校企不分及校企分开的对策选择

高等院校所办企业已成为我国科技产业的主力之一。本文分析了校企不分的弊病及校企分开的难点 ,认为校企应尽可能分开 ,目标是校企完全分离 ,以利于我国产业结构的优化升级 ,促进新经济的健康成长     

The benchmarking of airport performance

This paper examines how benchmarking is being used by airport managers as a means of internal performance comparison and improvement. Drawing on interviews with airport managers and a questionnaire survey of the world's top 200 busiest passenger airports, the paper discusses the nature, prevalence and consequences of current benchmarking practices in airports. The authors also include a review of the literature on airport benchmarking and a discussion of the characteristics and relevance of Best Practice Benchmarking.     

The privatization of Argentine airports

The significant increase in air traffic in Argentina during 1990s highlighted a need to upgrade the country's airport infrastructure. In the ideological and political–economical context of the period, the heavy investment required could not be carried through without private capital and thus a National Airport System was developed with an accompanying regulatory agency. This article looks at the origin, characteristics, and operations of this system.     

The future of airline distribution

This paper provides an overview of the changes taking place in airline distribution and evaluates the impact of these changes on the key stakeholders; the airlines, travel agents, global distribution systems companies and corporate travellers. Conclusions as to the future of airline distribution are drawn. It is likely that global distribution systems deregulation will lead to the fragmentation of airline inventories across different distribution channels. Airlines will seek to increase the proportion of sales they make directly on their own website, thereby reducing their costs. Travel management companies will need to demonstrate their value to corporate clients clearly. Corporate clients are most concerned about ensuring access to the widest possible range of airline products and tariffs, at the same time as distribution costs are removed from the value chain.