Urban land use allocation and environmental pollution control: An intertemporal optimization approach

This paper deals with long-run, multiperiod strategies of environmental pollution control and allocation of urban land uses. Air pollution generated by the industrial, residential and transportation sectors is taken as representative of the urban environmental quality problem. A comprehensive urban development optimization model is presented, integrating three submodel components for industrial, residential and transportation activities. The analysis focuses on the intertemporal linkages between technological and locational decisions, accounting for land availability, air pollution generation, control and impact, technological change, relocation of activities, land development and redevelopment, and transportation flows and network expansion. The modeling approach is of the cost-effectiveness type: the efficiency criterion is the total intertemporal cost of urban development and operation, and the objectives of the environmental policy are expressed in terms of standards to be respected. The methodology is illustrated by an empirical application to the Haifa metropolitan area.     

Educational resource multipliers for use in local public finance: An input-output approach

This paper develops an input-output framework for use in local public finance. A state-wide educational system is described in terms of its school districts and educational programs for which local, state and federal funds are allocated. A distinction is made between earmarked funds and discretionary funds. Educational resource multipliers are developed to show how changes in earmarked funds directly and indirectly affect the total level of educational expenditures in all districts and the total level of educational expenditures on all programs. The theoretical results are illustrated using data for the State of Pennsylvania. Finally, we show how the input-output approach relates to the standard partial equilibrium approach in the education finance literature.     

An approach to discovering new technology opportunities: Keyword-based patent map approach

This paper proposes an approach for creating and utilizing keyword-based patent maps for use in new technology creation activity. The proposed approach comprises the following sub-modules. First, text mining is used to transform patent documents into structured data to identify keyword vectors. Second, principal component analysis is employed to reduce the numbers of keyword vectors to make suitable for use on a two-dimensional map. Third, patent ‘vacancies’, defined as blank areas in the map that are sparse in patent density but large in size, are identified. The validity of the vacancy is then tested against such criteria as technological criticality and technological trends. If a vacancy is judged as meaningful, its technological features are investigated in detail to identify the potential for new technology creation. The procedure of the proposed approach is described in detail by employing an illustrative patent database and is implemented into an expert system for new technology creation.     

An innovative mobile approach for patient safety services: The case of a Taiwan health care provider

As the importance of patient safety increases for hospital management, many health care providers have begun to use innovative mobile technology to make their procedures more accurate and efficient, and to reduce the risk of human error. This paper explores an innovative mobile approach for patient safety and health care services in a Taiwan hospital, where a web-based patient safety services (PSS) system was implemented to enhance the efficiency of diagnosis and patient safety. The functions and operating procedures of the PSS system are introduced. Furthermore, the contributions of the PSS system over a six-month period of clinical use are analyzed. Finally, the managerial implications of mobile PSS are discussed.     

Designing awareness campaigns to counter human trafficking: An analytic approach

Human trafficking – the trade of persons for the gain of others – is a pervasive societal issue. Ongoing trafficking recruitment calls for targeted prevention strategies for individuals and communities at risk. Awareness campaigns, arguably the most common form of trafficking prevention, are intended to alert individuals to the tactics used by traffickers and provide them with practical strategies to avoid deception and exploitation. However there is a shortage of technical solutions regarding the analysis, impact assessment, and evaluation of alternatives related to implementing awareness campaigns. We present a resource allocation model that can be used to determine the allocation of funds that maximizes increases in trafficking awareness among at-risk populations. We apply this model to determine the allocation of a limited budget among different types of prevention programs in at-risk populations in Nepal. For each awareness campaign, we estimate a production function that relates the amount invested to the associated change in awareness. When allocating limited resources, decision makers must balance competing interests, and we illustrate the impact of three allocation policies on trafficking awareness. The model presented in this article is a first attempt to help decision makers evaluate how to allocate funds in the context of trafficking awareness.     

An alternative to the weighted score card approach to measuring performance: An analysis of English and Welsh probation boards

The UK government published a weighted score card approach in 2003 to analyse the performance of Probation Boards in England and Wales. However, there has not been a thorough analysis of whether non-parametric methods could provide more advanced options for analysing performance than the standard Weighted Score Card approach – a variant of the Balanced Score Card. Our results show there is considerable divergence in the ranks of Probation Boards from that of the WSC when we include the input variable ‘resource expenditure’ within a DEA model, calling into question recent policy initiatives to increase efficiency in the national probation service.     

Operational models for epidemics of problematic drug use: the Mover-Stayer approach to heterogeneity

A modified version of a susceptibles-infectives-removed (S-I-R) model for the HIV/AIDS epidemic, proposed at the beginning of the 1990s and recently generalized, is presented to mirror the epidemics of problematic drug use. The generalized model, which belongs to the susceptibles-infectives-susceptibles (S-I-S) class of epidemic models, can be used both to estimate interesting epidemic macro-parameters and to make scenario analyses. The model is a compartmental Mover-Stayer-type structure (Soc. Methods Res. 11 (1983) 345; Bull. Narcotics LIII (1-2) (2001) 39; Biometrics 55(4) (1999) 1252; Math. Biosci. 107 (1991) 521) and allows taking into account possible heterogeneous behaviours of the susceptibles. Such models, in fact, consider the susceptible population as subdivided into two main groups: the group of stayers, that is, the group of individuals who are considered not at risk of “infection”, and the group of movers (possibly divided into sub-groups with different risk behaviour) who are at risk of infection. Due to the interactions between infectious individuals and the susceptibles, some of these may pass to the drug user compartments and begin a “drug user career”. The model is presented and studied from a qualitative point of view using a Markov hybrid approximation. Some qualitative evaluation of the possible impact of interventions directed both towards susceptibles (primary prevention) and towards users (secondary prevention and/or law enforcement) are presented. Specific “what if” scenario analyses are obtained by simulation. Possible future developments are outlined.     

Determinants of credit to households: An approach using the life-cycle model

This paper applies a life-cycle model with individual income uncertainty in order to investigate the determinants of credit to households. We show that the household credit to GDP ratio depends on the lending-deposit interest rate spread, individual income uncertainty, and individual income persistence. We subsequently provide empirical evidence for the prediction of a theoretical model on the basis of data from OECD and EU countries.     

An interaction approach to global sourcing: A case study of IKEA

This study explores the process of global sourcing through a case of the Swedish furnishing retailer IKEA from an interaction perspective. With a point of departure in the streams of existing research on global sourcing and the internationalization process of firms through networks, a research question is proposed concerning supply network interactions as an influence in the global sourcing process. The study uses an in-depth qualitative case study methodology, focusing on IKEA and its development of a supply network for the PAX wardrobe system during the years 2003–2009. The findings draw on 29 interviews in Sweden and China, ranging from interviews with the supply management function of IKEA to interviews with Swedish and Chinese suppliers and sub-suppliers. The findings show that the global sourcing process is influenced by interactions and network effects between supply network actors. In particular, we find that relationships between suppliers were identified and set up by IKEA, but cascaded into deeper interactions amongst suppliers at different supply network tiers. Our study contributes to global sourcing research in indicating the importance of interaction amongst supply network actors, showing how the global sourcing strategy of one actor may significantly influence the sourcing strategies of other actors. Global sourcing decisions therefore need to be understood and coordinated across global supply networks.     

An expected rank-size rule: A theoretical relationship between the rank size rule and city size distributions

This paper investigates a theoretical relationship between the rank-size rule and city size distributions. First, a method of relating a certain city size distribution to ranked city size is formulated by employing order statistics. Second, it is shown that there do not exist city size distributions which satisfy the rank-size rule. Third, an alternative rank-size rule is proposed as $\text{E(P}{}_{\mathrm{r}}\text{)?(r)}\text{?(r?y)}\text{=c}$, which is equivalent to the Pareto city size distribution. Last, an alternative statistical test for the rank-size rule is proposed to overcome a shortcoming of the conventional test. Along this line, the Hokkaido region data is analyzed.     

Policies to benefit from the globalization of corporate R&D: An exploratory study for EU countries

This article explores how the globalization of corporate R&D has led to the emergence of new policy strategies across the EU, involving a more proactive role of governments and a closer connection between innovation policies and FDI promotion policies. The first part presents an analytical framework encompassing the main policy objectives and instruments at stake, which aims at facilitating the design and evaluation of policies geared towards the globalization of corporate R&D. Both the policies to attract inward FDI in R&D and those towards R&D offshoring are addressed, as well as the distinct policy implications of alternative entry modes. The second part provides evidence of the evolution of European policies in response to the globalization of corporate R&D, pointing out a set of country-specific examples and suggesting avenues for policy intervention at the EU level. Although the focus is on the EU, this study may inform policy learning in other developed and developing countries alike.     

An approach to the display and analysis of multiobjective problems

In all operations research applications, the problem of implementation rests on the information conveyed to the decision maker. The presentation of results is a critical link in the success of a project. An ineffective transfer of information will reduce the chance of decision maker acceptance. This final step in the analysis is particularly difficult in multiobjective analyses, where the amount of relevent information increases with each performance measure.This paper will describe an alternative to the typical graphical approach to multiobjective display, which is adaptable to any number of objectives. A real world example is given and some theoretical insights are developed.     

An economic-demographic approach to forecasting national and subnational birth rates

This paper conceptualizes and tests an economic-demographic fertility projection model, founded in the prevailing microeconomic theories of fertility behavior and embracing both economic and demographic determinants. Through a simulataneous system approach, the focus is on the linked decision areas for women concerning marriage, childbearing, employment, carreer and education. National age-race fertility rate projections are generated for the period of 1978–1985. An approach is explored whereby these can be adjusted to subnational levels and this is illustrated for the state of Illinois. The multivariate model appears to capture the key factors affecting fertility. It supports the Easterlin forecast that a turnaround from the steep decline of fertility rates during the past two decades will occur by the early 1980s. However the upturn will be relatively modest though sustained due to strong offsetting forces. The results justify further research on the potential and form of the economic-demographic approach to projecting the direction of fertility at the various geographic levels.     

An integrative model of e-learning use: Leveraging theory to understand and increase usage

Employees are increasingly using technology to access content for learning, and theory development has been outpaced by practice. Drawing on a well validated theory of behavior change (the Transtheoretical Model of Change), as well as theories on technology acceptance and employee development, this paper offers an integrative model of factors that influence employee use of e-learning as well as practical recommendations for how use might be increased. Recommendations for future research on e-learning are also offered.     

Adaptation,mitigation and risk: An analytic approach

The adaptation vs. mitigation dilemma is considered by analyzing a simple dynamic model of managing a polluting process subject to the risk of abrupt occurrences of harmful events. The occurrence hazard can be mitigated by reducing the polluting emissions, while the occurrence damage can be controlled via investments in adaptation activities. A full dynamic characterization of the optimal mitigation/adaptation processes is presented. The adaptation and mitigation policies interact strongly, and the evolution in time of each is affected by the option to implement the other. The conditions under which adaptation investments should begin promptly, take place after some delay or be avoided altogether are derived in terms of some key model parameters.