Impact of trade area environment on bank's comparative advantages

This article analyses the relationship between the comparative advantages of bank branches and the trade area environment. Bank branches are points of sale whose trade environment influences their activities and performance. Comparative advantages are defined, for each output mix, by the strict dominance of a production technology in a specific trade area over the production technologies of other environments. Using Shephard's output distance functions on a sample of 728 bank branches, we compare the production technologies for different output mixes and different trade environments. We show that none of the production technologies strictly dominates the others and none of them is strictly dominated. Therefore, each trade area benefits from comparative advantages that we try to highlight. Finally, we evaluate the performance of the central banks regarding their ability to provide the right incentives on output mixes to their bank branches so that the latter may benefit from their comparative advantages.     

Dual distribution as a vertical control device

This article posits transaction costs as the reason manufacturers use dual distribution (i.e., sell to customers through both independent and company- owned distributions). The authors base their analysis on Williamson's four types of transaction costs, and identify eight explanations for dual distributions. These reasons are lifecycle considerations, lack of distributor competition, information costs, facilitation of collusion, manufacturer opportunism, price discrimination, customer service and manufacturer efficiencies. They conclude that the competitive effect of dual distribution depends on which of the above explanations is relevant. If more than one explanation is valid, it may be necessary to balance the competitive effects in both the manufacturing and retail markets to evaluate the practice.     

第三方物流服务的顾客满意度研究——基于电子商务情景

在中国电子商务情景下,基于国内外物流服务质量与顾客满意的相关文献和顾客的访谈,从第三方物流服务的实体配送服务质量和顾客营销服务质量两个方面出发,结合信息系统和营销学领域的信息化水平和品牌形象变量构建了我国电子商务情景下第三方物流的顾客满意度模型。采用结构方程模型对收集的423份国内电子商务第三方物流服务顾客数据进行分析。结果表明,电子商务情景下,除实体配送服务质量外,顾客营销服务质量是第三方物流服务质量的关键维度。研究还发现,第三方物流服务质量显著正向影响顾客对物流服务的满意度;物流信息化水平和品牌形象对第三方物流服务质量存在显著正向影响,且还通过第三方物流服务质量对顾客满意存在重要的间接影响。     

QUANTITY AND PRICE INDEXES FOR CONSTRUCTION

Construction has traditionally constituted one of the problem areas in the preparation of industry price and quantity statistm with in the system of national accounts of most countries. The difficulty stems from what is considered to be the unique character of construction projects. This has unnecessarily impeded the calculation of output price indexes and has resulted in the use of various input-based prices as proxies for output prices. One of the objectives of the development of the system of construction price statistics described in this paper is to permit deflation of the outputs of construction industries in order to produce industry output data in constant prices in a manner consistent with measures for the rest of the economy. This is a more promising approach to improving constant price industry and expenditure measures within the SNA framework than attempting such improvements through the collection of a vast array of quantity data. Construction industries sell specified configurations of materials-in-place which are, to borrow the jargon of other fields, sub-assemblies of some total system. As in other areas of industrial pricing, some of these products are simple and some are complex. Trade contractors sell these sub-assemblies or commodities mainly to an owner-builder or to a general contractor who, in turn, resells the trade contractors’ commodities along with whatever sub-assemblies the general contractor has produced. These sub-assemblies, when combined with, for example, the relevant outputs (or sub-assemblies) of manufacturers, the design services of service industries and the purchasers’ own contributions, yield the wide variety of plant and structures which constitute the various classes of gross fixed capital formation, which are not typically solely the outputs of the construction industries. The resulting contractors’ selling price indexes will provide deflators for the whole range of outputs of the various construction industries. These will become part of the system of industry selling price indexes from which relevant indexes for the various goods and services can be selected and combined with appropriate weights to yield arrays of deflators for the highly complex capital expenditures of business, institutions and government. Ultimately this integrated system of construction industry statistics will permit the preparation of gross output and value added measures, in both current and constant prices, to be calculated for the construction industries as an integral part of the Canadian System of National Accounts, as well as provide a key element for improving the deflation of fixed capital formation.     

融合互联网技术与运筹学实现网上辅助决策系统探析

文章以获取交通运输的最短路径问题为例,深入探讨如何将计算机网络、数据库、程序设计等相关技术与运筹学理论相结合,开发计算机辅助决策系统,为网络用户提供科学、方便、快捷的辅助决策服务,以实现工作效率的提升与成本的降低。     

Leaning Against the Wind

During financial disruptions, market makers provide liquidity by absorbing external selling pressure. They buy when the pressure is large, accumulate inventories, and sell when the pressure alleviates. This paper studies optimal dynamic liquidity provision in a theoretical market setting with large and temporary selling pressure and order-execution delays. I show that competitive market makers offer the socially optimal amount of liquidity, provided they have access to sufficient capital. If raising capital is costly, this suggests a policy role for lenient central bank lending during financial disruptions.     

On requiring the durable goods monopolist to sell

Requiring a monopolist to sell its output (rather than renting it) my lead to beneficial output adjustments or harmful quality adjustments. In a durable goods model, we show that requiring sales decreases welfare in only a small fraction of cases, but it strictly increases welfare in a majority of cases.     

The Impact of Modelling and Simulation Technology on Engineering Problem Solving

The paper focuses on the use of modelling and simulation technology in the design and development of engineering projects. Using case studies, the authors examine the experiences of engineers and designers working with these tools. The paper provides insights into how this technology is reshaping the way engineers work and solve problems. Engineering design remains a highly uncertain activity and the costs of failure can be high. It was found that the use of modelling and simulation helps engineers to better understand physical properties and behaviour—quickly, cheaply and accurately—before they construct artefacts and systems. Such tools can help engineers 'learn-before-doing' and experiment with the integration of different technologies and components. Modelling and simulation helps build the 'design conversation' between contributors to an engineering project, including customers and regulators. It provides opportunities for feedback and learning and can promote open, interdisciplinary and collaborative working styles. These findings are related to existing literature on problem solving in engineering design and a future research agenda is proposed that examines the opportunities for and limitations of these technologies.     

The Impact of Modelling and Simulation Technology on Engineering Problem Solving

The paper focuses on the use of modelling and simulation technology in the design and development of engineering projects. Using case studies, the authors examine the experiences of engineers and designers working with these tools. The paper provides insights into how this technology is reshaping the way engineers work and solve problems. Engineering design remains a highly uncertain activity and the costs of failure can be high. It was found that the use of modelling and simulation helps engineers to better understand physical properties and behaviour—quickly, cheaply and accurately—before they construct artefacts and systems. Such tools can help engineers ‘learn-before-doing’ and experiment with the integration of different technologies and components. Modelling and simulation helps build the ‘design conversation’ between contributors to an engineering project, including customers and regulators. It provides opportunities for feedback and learning and can promote open, interdisciplinary and collaborative working styles. These findings are related to existing literature on problem solving in engineering design and a future research agenda is proposed that examines the opportunities for and limitations of these technologies.     

Investigation of the effect of secondary market on the diffusion of innovation

In the high-tech product market, the number of hungry adopters, a new type of early adopters who buy new products and sell them soon in the on- or off-line secondary market to seek for the other new products, has been increasing due to the short product life cycle of high-tech products and the low transaction cost on the Internet. This new phenomenon means that it is inappropriate to consider customers only in the primary market as total adopters in innovation diffusion modeling, since purchasers in the secondary market also have a word-of-mouth effect on the remaining non-adopters. To explain this new phenomenon, we modify the basic Bass diffusion model by incorporating the effect of the secondary market and conduct an empirical analysis. As a result, we conclude that the basic Bass model is likely to overestimate sales volume and tends to forecast lagged peak time when there is an effect from the secondary market. This means that applying a diffusion model to high-tech products without considering the secondary market effect would provide an inaccurate market forecast.     

基于设计的创新——理论初探

本文在前人研究的基础上提出企业基于设计的创新的概念,即通过寻找新的技术或者现有技术新应用以及运用新的产品语言创新产品意义,给客户全新的体验过程。在基于设计的创新中,有才能的设计师发挥了最主要的作用,他们是企业获取技术信息和产品语言信息的重要渠道。我们认为,在基于设计的创新过程中,设计师的沟通能力、信息搜索能力和吸收能力是影响创新成败的重要因素,另外,基于设计的创新需要得到领导的支持。     

Measured anxiety affects choices in experimental “clock” games

We measure anxiety by skin conductance response (SCR) in an economic setting. In “clock” games, six agents receive private signals when an asset's price exceeds its fundamental value. They can sell for immediate value or wait to sell at a higher value. Waiting is risky because the price crashes to a lower value when three agents sell. Anxiety could lead people to sell too quickly when the game is played dynamically over time, compared to a static version with precommitted selling. Empirically, delays are shorter in dynamic games than in payoff-equivalent static games, and are associated with anxiety as measured.     

Using early concept narratives to collect valid customer input about breakthrough technologies: The effect of application visualization on transportation

The value of early customer input has long been recognized by companies. However, especially when breakthrough technologies are involved, more insight in valuable methods for collecting early customer input is needed. In this paper, we propose a method to evaluate a breakthrough technology with customers. First, a creative process should point out applications of the breakthrough technology. Applications allow customers to imagine the benefits of the technology behind it. By using early concept narratives, typically scenarios of somebody using and interacting with the application, this imagination process is enhanced. When no prototypes are available yet, it appears that narratives and visuals allow customers to really “see” the new world of the application, a process called transportation, which is a mix of imagery, feelings, and attention. In an experiment in which we make use of a case of an application of a breakthrough technology, we provide empirical support for our claim that early concept narratives could be a valuable tool to get valid customer reactions. Furthermore, we show which kind of visual format the applications should have in order to optimize transportation. The results of this study will support decision making about how to pursue breakthrough application evaluations early in the product development process.     

The choices in the next energy and social revolution

The purpose of this article is to provide a context for choosing the energy system that will replace fossil fuels. It does not pretend to answer all of the difficult problems that will be encountered in reaching equilibrium. It argues the case on physical and social grounds why solar energy, not nuclear fusion, the other possible ultimate source, provides the best alternative.Two events of unparalleled importance stand out in the long course of human history: the introduction of agriculture, and industrialization. They were profound energy and social revolutions: energy revolutions in that each vastly increased energy availability over the former period; social revolutions in that each increased the scale of society and rearranged the social order around new technologies, institutions, and values. As fossil fuels, the energy source of industrialization, are depleted, the world enters into the third most important energy and social revolution in the development of civilization.Natural and social systems operate under the same principles of energy management. Growth, stability, or decline is determined by the interdependent relationship between energy and structure (Energy in Natural and Social Systems). The evolution of civilization over more than a million years can be seen as a successful quest to control greater amounts of energy through social organization in three different energy and social systems: hunting and gathering, agriculture, and fossil fuels (Two Energy and Social Revolutions). Many nations based on different energy and social structures have flourished and disappeared throughtout history. The cases of Egypt, Rome, and Britain are used to illustrate the dynamic forces that affect the rise and fall of empires, dependence on foreign resources and the changing purposes of social organization (The Influence of Energy on Nations). The energy perspective of the paper suggests the relationship between continuous growth and social discontinuity in the United States (Continuous Growth and Social Discontinuity in the United States). The physical and social consequences of future energy alternatives are discussed in terms of an Orwellian-, Jeffersonian-, and Malthusian-type future (The Third Revolution: Orwell, Jefferson, or Malthus). The paper concludes with an endorsement of solar energy as the alternative most likely to afford a stable future in a humanly organized environment (Conclusion).     

Standardization Process of Systems Technologies: Creating a Balance between Competition and Cooperation

Many firms are experimenting with how to standardize new technologies. They may use proprietary technologies for their products and services, and let them compete in the market selection. Alternatively, they can cooperate to jointly set a standard and experiment with combinations of market process and cooperation. If firms let the market decide, they can compete with technologies and need not invest time and effort in hammering out a standard. If they do incur the costs of negotiated standardization, they may enable end users to realize the benefits of standards. A hybrid standardization process combines the advantages of both market selection and negotiated decision making. This paper presents a contingency framework to identify conditions that will affect the preferred standardization process for vendors who introduce new technologies. A major contingency that this paper points to is the systemic nature of technologies in information and communication technology industries. The more systemic the technology is (in a way to be clarified), the less likely that firms will establish a hybrid standardization process. One advantage of decomposing technology systems in smaller components (modules) is that this approach enables firms to combine market selection with negotiated selection of standards.     

A model of merchants

I propose a simple model of merchants who are specialized in buying and selling a homogeneous good. Facing the same frictions as in the buyer-seller direct trades, merchants can make profits with an ability to buy and sell many units of the good. They set the price to compete in the market and provide buyers with a strong likelihood of obtaining the good. This paper establishes a turnover equilibrium where some agents choose to become merchants endogenously. An interesting multiplicity can emerge.     

FOUR REVOLUTIONS IN ELECTRIC EFFICIENCY

Demand prospects for electricity are being altered profoundly by four synergistic types of revolutionary change: new technologies for improved end-use efficiency, new ways to finance and deliver those technologies to customers, cultural change within utilities, and regulatory reforms to reward efficient behavior. Dramatic energy savings achieved so far have been largely in direct fuels and not in electricity, mainly due to price distortions and unique market failures. Resulting inefficient use of electricity is misallocating some $60 billion a year to unnecessary expansions of U.S. electric supply. Yet the best technologies now on the market could save about 92 percent of U.S. lighting energy, about half of motor energy, and much of the electricity used for other purposes. Complete retrofit could deliver equal or better services with only a fourth of the electricity now used. The levelized cost of that quadrupled end-use efficiency averages about 0.6 cents/kWh– well below short-run marginal cost. Analogous oil-saving potential from the best demonstrated technologies is about 80 percent of present oil consumption at an average cost below $3/bbl, partly because two of the 9–10 prototype cars already tested at 67–138 miles per gallon are said to cost nothing extra to make. Many utilities already save large amounts of electricity very quickly and cheaply by financing customers' efficiency improvements through loans, gifts, rebates, or leases. Even more promising is an emerging “negawatt market” making saved electricity a fungible commodity subject to competitive bidding, arbitrage, derivative instruments, secondary markets, etc. Utilities can make more money selling less electricity and more efficiency. They can earn a spread on the difference in discount rates between themselves and their customers. They can save operating and capital costs while avoiding the associated risks and, under emerging regulatory reforms, can even keep as extra profit part of what they save. They also can generate tradeable emissions rights under the new Clean Air Act. Some utilities now properly ignore sunk costs and seek to minimize marginal variable costs. These utilities, driven by economic– not accounting–principles, find this approach both profitable and operationally advantageous.     

The prospects for a hydrogen economy (1): hydrogen futures

Common to all discussions and projections of ‘a hydrogen economy’ is the widespread use of hydrogen as an energy carrier. Such use requires the development and application of a range of different technologies, some similar to and some quite different from those in common use in current energy systems. This paper starts by briefly introducing and describing the physical characteristics, economics and functionality of these technologies, before discussing some of the hydrogen futures that have been proposed, and the great improvements to the technologies which will be required before they become competitive with alternative means of delivering the same energy service. Technology cost estimates are then used to explore through the use of formal modelling techniques some of the futures scenarios.     

How Do Digital Technologies Drive Economic Growth?

This paper seeks to provide new empirical evidence that demonstrates the importance of digital technologies in promoting economic growth, drawing on the literature on advances in growth and leveraging a broader and more robust country‐level panel dataset. In particular, this paper estimates the long‐run economic impact of digital technologies using mobile phone penetration and internet usage as broad indicators. The empirical results suggest that, between 2004 and 2014, the diffusion of digital technologies significantly improved economic output in Australia and abroad, contributing to steady‐state gross domestic product per capita growth of approximately 5.8 per cent on average. These findings could serve as the starting‐point for predictions about the likely impact of future technologies, providing a better understanding for policy‐makers in prioritising initiatives that will continue to lift living standards in the coming years.     

The clean development mechanism versus international permit trading: The effect on technological change

The clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol may induce technological change in developing countries. As an alternative to the clean development mechanism regime, developing countries may accept a (generous) cap on their own emissions, allow domestic producers to invest in new efficient technologies, and sell the excess emission permits on the international permit market. The purpose of this article is to show how the gains from investment, and hence the incentive to invest in new technology in developing countries, differ between the two alternative regimes. We show that the difference in the gains from investment depends on whether the producers in developing countries face competitive or noncompetitive output markets, whether the investment affects fixed or variable production costs, and whether producers can reduce emissions through means other than investing in new technology.