Pilferage from opaque food subsidy programs: Theory and evidence

Theft rates from subsidized food programs vary greatly and strongly influence program efficiency. Unfortunately, the determinants of these variations remain understudied because the agencies that run these programs seldom publicize the allocations of subsidized food to local markets. We develop a theoretical model of pilferage which predicts that: (i) pilferage from opaque programs is likely to rise more than proportionately with per capita food allocations; (ii) pilferage of inferior goods may be lower in poorer communities; (iii) pilferage rates need not rise as price subsidies are increased; and (iv) pilferage may rise as the relative quality of subsidized food is reduced. A comprehensive literature review and new estimates of pilferage across regions of the Philippines validates these predictions. Our finding, that around 48% of the subsidized rice went missing, is robust to new tests for sampling and recall error. Our policy discussion encourages geographic over administrative targeting, greater transparency in food allocations, and the use of realistic quotas.     

Credit Rationing and Government Loan Programs: A Welfare Analysis

Asymmetric information about borrower default probabilities may lead to inefficient credit rationing of low-risk borrowers in otherwise competitive markets. In a simple model having these properties, we show that some types of government loan programs, such as loan guarantees issued through lenders, might improve economic efficiency. But the incentive for high-risk borrowers to misrepresent their loan quality is worsened by other government loan programs, notably those that try to target aid directly to rationed borrowers. As such, cost-effective programs may increase inefficiency. This surprising result highlights the need to conduct model-specific policy analyses, as opposed to analyses based on model-free performance indicators.     

水力模型在城市污水管网系统改造中的应用

利用InfoWorks ICM软件建立污水系统水力模型,对污水管网运行状况进行仿真模拟,在模型计算值与实测数据对比满足校核精度要求的前提下,利用水力模型对改造方案进行验证,保证方案的可行性和合理性。以广州市大坦沙污水系统-石井污水系统调水工程为研究对象,应用水力模型对改造方案实施前后的主干管运行超载状况、污水溢流状况和污水厂运行负荷进行评估分析,为该区域污水系统改造方案的可行性分析提供理论依据。     

A dynamic industrial product model

This article reports on the development of a marketing model for industrial products to aid marketing managers in developing marketing programs on a quarterly and yearly basis. The system incorporates a market response model which relies heavily on the involvement of managers in providing inputs. The model was parameterized and tested in the context of a large manufacturer of capital goods. The results were supportive of the conceptual soundness of the moral and its utility in decision making.     

Joint Participation Programs: Self-help or Suicide for Labor?

A model of the effects of worker participation programs on workers' attitudes and behavior toward their union under conditions of union involvement and noninvolvements is developed. It is hypothesized that if the union is a co-sponsor of such programs, the effects will be largely favorable to union predicted. General support is found for the model using survey data from establishments with union-sponsored programs.     

Farmer groups and input access: When membership is not enough

This paper explores the efficiency of a targeted fertilizer subsidy program administered differently in two Nigerian states in 2009. An important dimension along which the otherwise similar programs differed was the fertilizer distribution strategy. Fertilizer distribution among program participants was done at the individual level for one set of farmers, while the fertilizer was given indirectly through a group representative for the other set. Where fertilizer was given to a group representative for further distribution to members, relatives of the farm group’s president received more bags of fertilizer than others. Where fertilizer was given directly to farmers such results did not obtain. This differential outcome suggests that while groups may facilitate the process of farmer identification and coordination, elite capture and intra group dynamics may affect their efficacy for providing equal access to inputs for members. Two-tier models enable us to model the potentially separate processes that determine participation in the voucher program and the amount of fertilizer received, upon deciding to participate. With intentions to adopt and scale up voucher programs in various food security and poverty alleviation programs across developing countries, it is important to understand when and how farmer groups can affect the successful implementation of such programs.     

The Internet and income inequality: Socio-economic challenges in a hyperconnected society

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) influence income distribution directly and indirectly. A diverse pattern of decreases and increases in income inequality has emerged in parallel with increasing fixed and mobile connectivity. Building on earlier research, this paper develops a socio-technical model to examine the contribution of hyperconnectivity to these outcomes. ICTs rarely are a single cause but interact with other technological, economic, and political forces to shape the extent of income inequality. Depending on the constellation of these factors, income inequality may decrease or increase. Public policy may be able to ameliorate undesirable outcomes although effective programs will typically require initiatives that go beyond traditional measures designed to reduce digital divides.     

It Makes a Village: Residential Relocation after Charter School Admission

Although numerous studies investigate how student achievement is impacted by educational vouchers and charter schools, there appears to be no research on how these programs impact the surrounding environment. This study examines residential relocation of families whose children attend a charter school. We develop a conceptual model that predicts where relocating families are likely to move, given ex ante distance and direction to the school. The model is parameterized using data from student mailing address changes. We find that families are almost twice as likely to relocate toward the school as would be expected if the school did not exert any attraction. Moreover, although families are not required to live near the school, the child's school exerts a significantly stronger attraction than parent workplaces. This result may have important implications for mitigating urban sprawl, fostering urban renewal and promoting sustainable real estate development.     

Formalization of reverse logistics programs: A strategy for managing liberalized returns

The ability to manage returns has become a critical success factor for many firms. Liberal returns policies are encouraging large volumes of returns, and reverse logistics programs are being used to recover returned assets that would otherwise be lost. However, lack of formal policy may inhibit reverse logistics effectiveness. This research examines the relationships between formalization, liberal policies, and related capabilities and overall effectiveness of reverse logistics programs for a sample of firms in the automobile aftermarket parts industry.     

Pricing strategies that adjust to inflation

Recently, the inflation rate has moved to significantly higher levels than most firms anticipated. The firms' errors in projecting the inflation rate proved costly to many—especially those with long-term contracts to deliver at a fixed price. This experience has led many firms to consider alternatives to fixed price contracts. This article addresses alternative contractural forms and develops the economic principle to be employed in designing the optimal contractual arrangement.     

An evaluation of the Connected Nation broadband adoption program

Closing the digital divide and increasing broadband adoption within households and communities continues to be a target for government and nonprofit groups. While a large number of studies have examined policies and programs aimed at improving broadband infrastructure availability, little analysis to date has focused on evaluating efforts to increase adoption. One of the most well-known programs focused on adoption is Connected Nation, which partnered with 14 states to provide local curricula aimed at raising residential connection rates. This analysis uses a generalized difference-in-difference methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of the Connected Nation program in 5 states during 2012 and 2013. The results indicate that participation in the Connected Nation program had no significant impact on broadband adoption rates. This paper represents a rigorous evaluation of one of the most well-known adoption-oriented programs and emphasizes that measurable impacts of such efforts may not accrue over the short term.     

Bagging bundle benefits in broadband and media mergers: Lessons from Sky/Vodafone for antitrust analysis

The historic precedents in telecommunications antitrust findings have tended towards finding harm to competition when network operators integrate downstream and bundle the provision of applications and services. The reason for this is that market power in network provision is thought to be extended into the applications market(s). More recently however, proposed mergers have been between telecommunications and media distribution firms, both of whom have some degree of market power, already sell their own services in bundles, and who may or may not have been offering combined bundles already via contractual agreements. Examples include Sky/Vodafone in New Zealand, and Time Warner/AT&T in the United States as well as Vodafone/Unitymedia in Germany and Media Capital/Altice in Portugal. These complex proposed arrangements pose challenges to competition authorities, whose legal and procedural rules and precedents, especially those defining the relevant markets affected by the merger or vertical integration activity, have been developed from the analysis of simpler cases. These precedents may not be sufficient to analyse current cases, characterized by multiple products catering to heterogeneous consumer preferences, and consumers are not constrained to buying only one variant of the products in each of the upstream and downstream markets.We illustrate the challenges by way of a case study of the proposed merger between Sky and Vodafone, declined by the New Zealand Commerce Commission in February 2017. Limitations in existing market definition processes and the evaluation of market power where bundling already occurs risk overlooking complex demand-side interactions that influence the profitability and efficiency of various structural and contractual strategic choices. We propose that classic merger and antitrust analysis based on econometric cost-benefit analysis can be augmented by using simulation and numerical analysis of a range of bundle offers expected to be relevant in decision-making. We develop a simple model and use it to illustrate how it may be used to inform broadband and content mergers, and other complex antitrust cases, such the assessment of the effects of two-sided markets and firm pricing decisions.     

Purchase process for capital equipment and services

This article develops some interactive dimensions of the industrial buying center. Buying group processes and outcomes were examined for purchases of capital equipment and industrial services in 31 firms. Qualitative as well as quantitative data were analyzed to test the soundness of an interactive communication perspective on buying, and the managerial implications to be drawn from such an analysis. Equipment and services purchase measures were found to differ reliably across several indices suggested by our theoretical orientation.     

State of Play: How Do College Football Programs Compete for Student Athletes?

Each year high school football players sign letters of intent with college football programs. The NCAA governs this matching market with strict rules that are designed to protect amateurism. DuMond et al. (J Sports Econ 9(1):67–87, 2008) develop a model of athlete choice. I consider the matching puzzle from the program’s perspective: What factors increase the likelihood that a school will successfully recruit an athlete? Like DuMond et al., I find that the state of play matters. However, my results suggest that football programs are willing to recruit outside their borders. In addition, the results align with prior findings about cheating in the NCAA. This extends the literature on college sport recruiting and may provide insight into other matching puzzles in academic, medical, and business job markets.     

A production/remanufacture model with returns’ subassemblies managed differently

This paper considers a production-remanufacturing inventory model for a single product, where constant demand is satisfied from the inventory of newly produced and remanufactured items. Although the available models in the literature imply that collected used units (or returns) are disassembled for recovery purposes, these models really do not treat them as such. Contrary, the returns are assumed to be recovered as whole units, perhaps, for simplicity. This assumption may not capture the benefits reaped from product recovery programs. This paper addresses this limitation in the literature and assumes that each unit of a used product is collected and disassembled into components, where these components are sorted into subassemblies, which are fed back into the production-remanufacturing process. The returned subassemblies are remanufactured and reassembled to represent a second source of as-good-as-new units of the end-product. For this multi-component inventory problem, the question that needs to be answered is whether, or not, extreme strategies of either pure remanufacturing or pure production are more economical than a mixed strategy (one that combines both strategies). A mathematical model is developed that accounts for the inventories of subassemblies. The results suggested that not accounting for the disassembled components of a product leads to inappropriate inventory decisions that are not environmentally sound.     

Alleviating rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa

This analysis of rural poverty and hunger in Africa discusses the intertemporal and cross-sectional dimensions of poverty as an aid to policies and programs to alleviate hunger. Since nutritional adequacy of diets varies according to season, seasonality is an important cause of poverty especially in countries with 1 major harvest. In agricultural communities the wet season brings on food shortages and high prices, requiring assistance programs to concentrate on alleviating hunger at this time of year. Drought places a similar demand on resources. People may be poorer in 1 section of a country than another if they have no access to the existing power system, depriving them of services and assistance. There are forgotten regions of Africa where people are poor due to physical isolation, increasing the risk of drought and impeding emergency relief. Production in these areas may be low because there are no consumer goods to buy with surplus. It is important to identify target groups for financial assistance which will change with time and environmental conditions.     

Innovation upgrading of local small and medium-sized enterprises and regional innovation policy: An empirical study

The aim of this paper is to clarify factors that promote innovation upgrading of regional SMEs and to analyze why and how policy programs implemented by local government affect their upgrading. This study is based on a firm-level questionnaire survey conducted in 2014 that targeted 1324 SMEs in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Innovation upgrading was classified into four stages depending on the novelty of the technology used and products; the novelty is classified according to whether they were existing or new. Measures of upgrading include the ratio of research and development (R&D) investment to sales, open innovation, sources of ideas, problem solving ability, human resource development (HRD), and business development strategies. An ordered probit model was employed. Six policy programs of Hyogo Prefectural Government were analyzed. The Manufacturing Academy was seen to be significant, and how this policy program affects upgrading through factors inside SMEs was examined by introducing cross-terms of policy programs and measures. Estimation results demonstrated that this policy program enhanced upgrading through HRD in SMEs, and it is considered that this was due to the policy programs meeting the necessity that SMEs have to develop the skills and abilities of their engineers and workers.     

Relationship keyness: The underlying concept for different forms of key relationship management

For companies, relationships with external actors may constitute intangible assets. Many firms have put in place key account management programs in order to pay sufficient attention to strategically important customers and the marketing literature has studied such programs. However, a company's relationship portfolio also comprises relationships with other types of actors. The objective of this paper is to show that - across the different types of external relationships a company may develop - some relationships have more importance than others and, hence, are key. The authors argue that, as a consequence, the keyness of certain relationships has led to the emergence of approaches which can be referred to as key relationship management. For this purpose, the authors first present empirical material on the management of relationships between companies and their partners in strategic alliances from the French IT sector. They then discuss the concept of keyness as well as the common characteristics of different forms of key relationship management such as key account management, key supplier management and strategic alliance management.     

The organizational implications of implementing key account management: A case-based examination

Most companies struggle in the effort to become more customer-centric. A typical example of customer-centric change initiative is adoption of a key account management (KAM) program. Companies are increasingly adopting such programs, but knowledge of how to successfully manage the organizational change required to implement them is extremely limited. Our goal in this study was to use case study methodology in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of organizational issues that firms need to consider when implementing a KAM program. We accordingly describe, using as our observational lens a well-established framework (the 7S model), how a multinational company adopted a KAM program in a local branch. We argue, on the basis of our review of the literature on KAM adoption and on change management in sales organizations, that the 7S model can be used to meaningfully synthesize both processes. Using the 7S model, we describe and interpret the change management project the company followed in order to implement the KAM program. Based on this we present some key learnings from the case, accompanied by a conceptual model and a checklist, advanced to help academics and executives better understand how to investigate and manage KAM adoption programs.