Stepwise ordinal efficiency for the random assignment problem

We introduce a notion of efficiency, called Stepwise Ordinal Efficiency (SOE), and prove that it coincides with a fairness notion of interim favoring ranks, in the sense of Harless (2018). We also prove that SOE implies ordinal efficiency, while it is not compatible with rank efficiency. Then, we provide an impossibility result which states that no mechanism meets SOE, weak strategy-proof, and strong equal treatment of equals. Finally, we show that a modified eating algorithm satisfies SOE.     

A genetic algorithm for the partial binary constraint satisfaction problem: an application to a frequency assignment problem

We describe a genetic algorithm for the partial constraint satisfaction problem. The typical elements of a genetic algorithm, selection, mutation and cross-over, are filled in with combinatorial ideas. For instance, cross-over of two solutions is performed by taking the one or two domain elements in the solutions of each of the variables as the complete domain of the variable. Then a branch-and-bound method is used for solving this small instance. When tested on a class of frequency assignment problems this genetic algorithm produced the best known solutions for all test problems. This feeds the idea that combinatorial ideas may well be useful in genetic algorithms.     

On the uniqueness of the solution to a large linear assignment problem

The core of a linear assignment problem contains a continuum of allocations. A model is presented where this core shrinks to a unique solution of the limit problem as the number of agents grows.     

我国拟开征物业税的公平性问题探讨

物业税是一种财产税,理论上具有调节贫富差距的作用,但在实施过程中存在诸多不足,影响了其公平功能的发挥。文中在物业税的内涵与特征基础上,通过对现有房地产税公平功能的分析,提出了增强物业税公平的对策建议。     

Nash equilibria in a model of multiproduct price competition: an assignment problem

We study the market interaction of a finite number of single-product firms and a representative buyer, where the buyer consumes bundles of these goods. The buyers’ value function determines their willingness to pay for subsets of goods. We show that Nash-equilibrium outcomes are solutions of the linear relaxation of an integer programming assignment problem and that they always exist. The Nash-equilibrium price set is characterized by the Pareto frontier of the associated dual problem’s projection on the firms’ price vectors. We identify the Nash-equilibrium prices for monotonic buyers’ value functions and, more importantly, we show that some central solution concepts in cooperative game theory are (subgame perfect) equilibrium prices of our strategic game.     

Modeling multiple criteria in the faculty assignment problem

This paper describes two multiple criteria models for generating teaching assignments for faculty members. The first model requires faculty members to input utility values for possible teaching schedules while the second model requires that each faculty member only rank order possible teaching schedules. Unlike previously proposed models for this problem, the models described in this paper allow the user to evaluate the impacts and tradeoffs between goals that are associated with each individual faculty member and goals that are associated with the organization as a whole during the faculty assignment process.     

Efficient spatial allocation in the quadratic assignment problem

Koopmans and Beckmann found that the competitive mechanism cannot sustain an assignment of indivisible plants to spatially distinct sites when intermediate product flows are required and transportation costs between sites are positive. Hartwick claims to have found valid counterexamples to this result. This paper demonstrates that while counterexamples to the Koopmans-Beckmann result do exist, Hartwick's examples are inappropriate. A correct example of a price-sustainable integer assignment is provided.     

Signed social structure optimization for shift assignment in the nurse scheduling problem

This paper develops a mathematical framework that relies on modern social network analysis theories for treating the nurse team formation and nurse scheduling (shift assignment) problems, accounting for signed social connections. These problems lie in assigning nurses to teams/shifts such that the constraints regarding both the working regulations and nurses preferences are satisfied. Recent research indicates the dependence of nursing team performance on team social structure; however, so far, the social structure considerations have not been explicitly incorporated into the mathematical formulations of the nurse scheduling problem. The presented framework introduces models that quantitatively exploit such dependence. This paper explores instances of Nurse Team Formation Problem (NTFP) and Nurse Scheduling Problem (NSP) incorporating signed social structure with the measures based on such network structures as edges, full dyads, triplets, k-stars, balanced and unbalanced triangles, etc., in directed, signed networks. The paper presents the integer programming formulations for NTFP and NSP, and a problem-specific heuristic that performs variable-depth neighborhood search to tackle NTFP instances with signed social structures. Computational results for a real-world problem instance with 20 nurses are reported. The insights obtained from the presented framework and future research directions are discussed.     

A linear programming solution to the faculty assignment problem

This paper investigates the problem of assigning faculty to courses at a university. A program is developed which is both efficient in that integer programming is not required, and effective, in that it facilitates interaction by administration in determining the optimal solution. The results of some empirical tests are also reported.     

Ex-post evaluation of scenarios: the case of nanotechnology societal impacts

Scenario development is one of the popular methods of futures studies. There has been a lot of attention paid to different methods of scenario writing in theoretical literature; but what is important is to evaluate the scenarios which has not been a matter of comprehensive study heretofore. In this paper, we have carried out a comprehensive study in this regard. Accordingly, evaluation has been divided into three categories: ex-ante evaluation, mid-term evaluation and ex-post evaluation. Ex-ante evaluation is carried out when the scenario is generating; mid-term evaluation is carried out when the scenarios are transferring; and ex-post evaluation is being done after the transfer of scenarios. It should be noted that main purpose for ex-ante evaluation is considered “effectiveness”, for mid-term evaluation “relevance”, and for ex-post evaluation “the impact”. The outstanding part of this paper is the ex-post evaluation of scenarios for societal impact of nanotechnology, (which is carried out in accordance with a former paper) whose corresponding National Iranian Nanotechnology Initiative (NINI) time began approximately 10 years ago.     

Simultaneous optimization of land use and transportation: A synthesis of the quadratic assignment problem and the optimal network problem

The problem of designing jointly a land use plan and a transportation network for a new town is formalized as a combinatorial programming problem which can be considered as an extension of the Koopmans-Beckmann problem. Accessibility and capital costs are the criteria taken into account to evaluate a plan. One exact technique and several heuristic techniques are reported and evaluated.     

Probabilistic assignment problem with multi-unit demands: A generalization of the serial rule and its characterization

We study a probabilistic assignment problem when agents have multi-unit demands for objects. We first introduce two fairness requirements to accommodate different demands across agents. We show that each of these requirements is incompatible with stochastic dominance efficiency (henceforth, we use the prefix “sd” for stochastic dominance) and weak sd-strategy-proofness, unless all agents have unitary demands. We next introduce a new incentive requirement which we call limited invariance. We explore implications of these requirements in combination of consistency or converse consistency.Our main result is that the generalized serial rule, which we propose as an adaptation of the serial rule to our setting, is the only rule satisfying sd-efficiency, the sd proportional-division lower-bound, limited invariance, and consistency. Uniqueness persists if we replace the sd proportional-division lower-bound by sd normalized-no-envy, or consistency by converse consistency, or both. The serial rule in Bogomolnaia and Moulin (2001) is characterized as a special case of our generalized serial rule.     

如何解决民营企业主与职业经理人之间的委托代理问题

民营企业老板和职业经理人之间的冲突源于两大问题:一是双方的目标追求不一致。二是双方信息不对称。解决这两大问题的方法,既不是呼吁职业经理人提高自身的道德水平。也不是单纯的激励机制,而是有效的监督和建立在监督基础上的激励和约束机制。 民营企业的委托代理问题 委托代理机制是现代企业制度的核心问题。企业委托人(所有者)希望以尽     

Sneaking through the minefield of talent management: the notion of rhetorical obfuscation

In spite of the growing popularity of talent management in practice, there has been a distinct lack of theoretical attention paid by scholars to such a strategically important innovation. To address this shortfall, we conducted an in-depth case study of a multinational enterprise to examine and conceptualise the rhetorical underpinnings of its efforts in implementing a talent management programme. Based on our findings, we propose the notion of rhetorical obfuscation to conceptualise the intentional use of persuasive language to selectively project and communicate organisational agenda as a means of directing and reinforcing relevant stakeholders' commitments and conforming behaviours. In particular, we found that rhetorical obfuscation was used extensively in the case organisation to cover up inconsistency in practices and lack of legitimacy during the institutionalisation of talent management. Our contributions are threefold. Firstly, this study has provided a necessary theoretical grounding to conceptualise talent management. Secondly, by introducing the theory of rhetorical practice to human resource (HR) innovation research, our account has demonstrated the usefulness of rhetorical practice and created a launch pad for other HR researchers to build upon. Thirdly, by exploring the rhetorical underpinnings related to the adoption of talent management, we have added to the rich intellectual tradition of rhetorical practice by presenting the notion of rhetorical obfuscation.     

Pay fairness and intrinsic motivation: the role of pay transparency

The fairness of managerial pay can be judged in terms of its distributive justice properties (‘is my pay fair when compared to others’) and its procedural justice properties (‘is my pay fairly determined’). While both types of justice have been studied extensively in the organizational literature, their relative importance in predicting work-related outcomes is still open to debate. In this paper, we provide field evidence that the relationship between pay justice and managers' intrinsic motivation is moderated by pay transparency, which is the extent to which managers know each other's pay levels. In a homogeneous sample of 139 Slovenian bank managers, we find that procedural justice is a better predictor of intrinsic motivation when pay transparency is low, and that distributive justice is a better predictor of intrinsic motivation when pay transparency is high. These findings that are congruent with fairness heuristic theory (Van den Bos, Lind, Vermunt and Wilke 1997a) suggest the importance of considering pay transparency for understanding and designing fair managerial pay systems.     

Citizenship behavior and fairness in organizations: Issues and directions for future research

In this review, we discuss the preceding papers in the special issue, and explore their implications for future research. In particular, the effects of fairness on citizenship behaviors are summarized, the role of managerial responses to OCBs on subsequent perceptions of fairness are explored, and directions for future research are discussed.     

On the generalized principal-agent problem: a comment

Faynzilberg and Kumar (Rev Econ Design 5(1):23–58, 2000) show that the usual Mirrlees–Rogerson conditions to validate the first-order approach in moral hazard agency models are no longer valid in the generalized agency case. They consider the risk-averse agent case and identify one set of technological conditions, where the production technology satisfies the linear distribution function condition in actions and types, that validates ex-ante the first-order approach. With the usefulness of their decomposition approach, we show that the first-order approach in the generalized agency case can be checked ex-ante under the Mirrlees–Rogerson conditions when the agent is risk-neutral but there is a binding limited liability constraint on the agent’s wage.