Maximin Envy-Free Division of Indivisible Items

Assume that two players have strict rankings over an even number of indivisible items. We propose two algorithms to find balanced allocations of these items that are maximin—maximize the minimum rank of the items that the players receive—and are envy-free and Pareto-optimal, if such allocations exist. To determine whether an envy-free allocation exists, we introduce a simple condition on preference profiles; in fact, our condition guarantees the existence of a maximin, envy-free, and Pareto-optimal allocation. Although not strategy-proof, our algorithms would be difficult to manipulate unless a player has complete information about its opponent’s ranking. We assess the applicability of the algorithms to real-world problems, such as allocating marital property in a divorce or assigning people to committees or projects.     

On utility maximization under model uncertainty in discrete‐time markets

We study the problem of maximizing terminal utility for an agent facing model uncertainty, in a frictionless discrete‐time market with one safe asset and finitely many risky assets. We show that an optimal investment strategy exists if the utility function, defined either on the positive real line or on the whole real line, is bounded from above. We further find that the boundedness assumption can be dropped, provided that we impose suitable integrability conditions, related to some strengthened form of no‐arbitrage. These results are obtained in an alternative framework for model uncertainty, where all possible dynamics of the stock prices are represented by a collection of stochastic processes on the same filtered probability space, rather than by a family of probability measures.     

Asymmetric Post-Announcement Drift to Good and Bad News: Evidence from Voluntary Trading Disclosures in the Chinese Stock Market

This article investigates the post-announcement drift (PAD) of stock returns in the Chinese stock market. We use a sample of voluntary trading disclosures to test the hypothesis that an asymmetric PAD exists in a market in which managers are more likely to suppress negative news. We show that a pattern of short-term momentum and long-term reversal in returns persists for up to 250 trading days following the announcement of trading statements in the Chinese stock market. This finding is stronger for positive announcements in terms of the magnitude and the variance of stock returns. Our findings are in line with both Shin’s theoretical predictions and the credibility hypothesis, in which disclosure and asset returns are jointly determined and the adoption of a “sanitisation strategy” in information disclosure generates more volatile returns for firms issuing good news. Further, we show that the latter effect is more pronounced for firms which are partially state-owned, suggesting that they potentially receive more government support, a finding which is in line with the hypothesis that the incentive to suppress negative information is related to a country’s legal/judicial system.     

Geometric division with a fixed point: Not half the cake, but at least 4/9

We study a two-person problem of cutting a homogeneous cake where one player is disadvantaged from the outset: Unlike under the divide-and-choose rule he may only choose a point on the cake through which the other player will then execute a cut and then take the piece that he prefers. We derive the optimal strategy for the disadvantaged player in this game and a lower bound for the share of the cake that he can maximally obtain: It amounts to one third of the cake whenever the cake is bounded. For convex and bounded cakes the minimum share rises to 4/9 of the cake. JEL-Classification: D61 D63The author thanks two anonymous referees for fruitful suggestions and criticism.     

The Rise and Stall of a Fair Trade Pioneer: The Cafédirect Story

This is a case study investigating the growth of fair trade pioneer, Cafédirect. We explore the growth of the company and develop strategic insights on how Cafédirect has attained its prominent position in the UK mainstream coffee industry based on its ethical positioning. We explore the marketing, networks and communications channels of the brand which have led to rapid growth from niche player to a mainstream brand. However, the company is experiencing a slow down in its meteoric rise and we question whether it is possible for the company to regain its former momentum with its current marketing strategy.     

Management development within the construction industry: building on success?

This article explores the notion that the workplace is a learning environment, and that the line manager is a key player determining its effectiveness. The work discusses how performance management systems may be used to clarify expectations made of line managers with regard to employee development. The work, in addition, suggests that line manager people management expertise may be a factor inhibiting workplace development for subordinates, and makes a number of suggestions about how to prepare the line manager for effective employee development. Key issues are illustrated by reference to a case study example. The case demonstrates that a high profile management development programme within a major international organisation failed to meet all objectives because of the unwillingness of the line management team to participate in the development of subordinates back in the workplace.     

A Multicriteria Selection System Based on Player Performance: Case Study—The Spanish ACB Basketball League

In this paper, we describe an approach to rank sport players based on their efficiency. Although is extremely useful to analyze the performance of team games there is no unanimity on the use of a single index to perform such a ranking. We propose a method to summarize the huge amount of information collected at different aspects of a sport team which is almost daily publicly available. The tool will allow agents involved in a player’s negotiation to show the strengths (and weaknesses) of the player with respect to other players. The approach is based on applying a multicriteria outranking methodology using as alternatives the potential players and as criteria different efficiency indices. A novel automatic parameter tuning approach is detailed that will allow coaches and sports managers to design templates and sports strategies that improve the efficiency of their teams. We report the results performed over the available information on the ACB Basketball League, and we show how it can be easily implemented and interpreted in practice by decision-makers non familiar with the mathematical side of the methodology.     

Who stays,who walks,and why in high-intensity service contexts

The current investigation explores relationships among customer service-quality evaluations, propensity-to-switch, and player retention in a highly-intense service delivery environment (casinos). The study also examines the proposal that player loyalty intervenes between casino service-quality perceptions and player retention. Overall customer service-quality perception is operationalized as a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of service environment, empathy, reliability, assurance, responsiveness, game service, and food service. Path analyses show that casino service environment is the only factor that impacts player propensity-to-switch, whereas food service and empathy affect player retention. After separating the sample into three groups based on respondents' average betting, namely low-end, medium and high-end players, the influence of casino service factors on player propensity-to-switch and retention varies substantially among the groups. Results for testing the mediation model demonstrate that customer loyalty affects player retention and that casino service evaluations influence customer loyalty directly. A few measured factors such as age, education, occupation, and income influence player propensity-to-switch and retention. These findings have strategic implications for casino marketers.     

浅淡物流业纳税面临问题之探讨

物流业是一个新兴业态。在现行税收征管制度下,物流企业总揽分包运输和仓储等业务,存在着事实上的营业税重复纳税问题。物流公司纳税问题成了国家一大问题,为了使一个纳税物流公司了解和掌握物流公司纳税的形式以及政策、正确履行纳税义务,本文对物流公司纳税问题进行了归纳和深入探讨。     

Web Marketing: Has the Distinction Between Products and Services Become Obsolete?

The marketing literature makes a distinction between products and services. We argue that, in the Internet, the characteristic features of services disappear making services more like products. Is it therefore necessary or even possible to differentiate products from services on the Internet? In this paper we review the basic assumptions about services. We show that these assumptions are no longer valid in Web-based marketing. We review the traditional service model and show that it is no longer sufficient for modeling electronic services. We propose an expanded model, the electronic marketing model, which does not necessitate the distinction between products and services. Instead, the model prompts managers to focus on the key player—the customer.     

Coopetition with a Risk-Pooling Arrangement in the Railroad Industry

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate coopetition with a risk-pooling arrangement in the railroad industry. The study discusses whether railroad companies voluntarily sign free alternative transportation contracts, which are contracts where non-suspended lines provide railroad services to affected passengers when some lines are suspended. The main results of this study can be summarized as follows. First, railroad companies do voluntarily wish to sign free alternative transportation contracts. In other words, coopetition with a risk-pooling arrangement is always realized. Second, in the case of a monopolistic line, when the probability of an accident occurring is relatively high, it is desirable for policy makers to provide a new line and achieve a risk-pooling arrangement.     

Particle swarm optimization for optimal product line design

Designing optimal products is one of the most critical activities for a firm to stay competitive. Except for genetic algorithms, previous approaches that solve the optimal product line design problem provide the decision maker with a single best solution. Furthermore, they assume a static market, in which the incumbent firms will not respond to the entrance of a new player. In this paper we apply a new population-based algorithm called particle swarm optimization to the problem and employ a Monte Carlo simulation to compare its performance to that of genetic algorithms. The results indicate that the proposed particle swarm optimization algorithm constitutes an attractive alternative for solving the optimal product line design problem because its performance is comparable to that of genetic algorithms concerning the best solution found while it outperforms genetic algorithms regarding the diversity of the final set of provided solutions. Furthermore, we use concepts from game theory to illustrate how the algorithm can be extended to incorporate retaliatory actions from competitors. The dynamic approach is illustrated through a real-world case in which a firm intends to enter the Greek retail milk market. While employing highly simplifying assumptions, the incorporation of the Nash equilibrium concept provides useful insights, such as the attribute levels that may be resistant to competitive reactions and the incumbent firms that will benefit most in the long term.     

Digital touch in sponsorship: Getting closer to the brand through virtual reality

Supporters are consuming more and more sporting events through digital platforms. Brands should adapt to these new consumption patterns in order to strengthen their connection with their customers. Today, researchers and practitioners can create more interactive and enjoyable experiences through virtual reality (VR) applications. Through two studies conducted on VR during sporting events, we show that mentally representing the touch experiences of players on the field reduces the psychological distance between the supporter and the player, which strengthens the supporter's attachment to the team and, through the same attachment, to the sponsor (Study 1). We also highlight that these positive effects of VR compared to real touch (using a player's jersey) is linked to the improvement of immersion, which stimulates touch imagery (Study 2). We discuss the implications of this research for theory and practice in the sports business and other sectors.     

The myth of the dragon: Operations management in today's China

Manufacturing is absolutely booming in China, which has become a prime target for direct foreign investment. However, manufacturing in China does not always operate the way that Westerners expect it to. In this article, we examine China's manufacturing operations in light of the influence of the country's recent economic and social history, the diversity of its regions, and its national culture. We conclude that while Chinese manufacturing has issues to face and obstacles to overcome, things will only continue to improve, making China even more of a major player in the global manufacturing scene.     

In the heat of the game: Analogical abduction in a pragmatist account of entrepreneurial reasoning

We draw on Searle's philosophy of language to distinguish between “opportunities” as intentional content directed towards a preferred future that entrepreneurs aim to fulfill and opportunities as conditions to be met for their satisfaction. We maintain that studying the former requires adopting a player stance rather than the analyst stance that prevails in the current literature. We build on pragmatist conceptions of truth and imagination to elaborate on the player stance and propose analogical abduction as a mechanism for conceiving and fulfilling “opportunities”. We develop a pragmatist process model of entrepreneurial reasoning that balances the two stances, and derive action principles for entrepreneurs from it.     

标准对运输服务贸易竞争力的影响 ——基于我国总体与部门面板数据的实证

本文运用协整与格兰杰等方法从整体上对我国运输标准与运输服务贸易竞争力关系进行实证,结果发现:我国运输标准对其贸易竞争力具有积极促进作用;我国不同运输部门的标准对运输服务贸易竞争力的影响存在差异,其中海运部门标准对运输服务贸易竞争力的影响力最大;运输标准对不同运输部门服务贸易竞争力的影响程度也存在差异;对FDI作为我国运输市场开放程度的替代指标的研究发现,运输市场开放度的提高不仅不能提升我国运输服务贸易竞争力,反而起到了负作用。     

Combining Rational Choice and Evolutionary Dynamics: The Indirect Evolutionary Approach

In this study we propose a formal framework for the indirect evolutionary approach initiated by Guth and Yaari. It allows us to endogenize preferences and to study their evolution. We define two‐player indirect evolutionary games with observable types and show how to incorporate symmetric as well as asymmetric situations. We show how to apply solution concepts that are well known from game theory and evolutionary game theory to solve these games. For illustration we include two examples.     

The Hoede–Bakker Index Modified to the Shapley–Shubik and Holler–Packel Indices

We present some modifications of the Hoede–Bakker index defined in a social network in which players may influence each other. Due to influences of the other actors, the final decision of a player may be different from his original inclination. The modifications presented in the paper are defined for an arbitrary probability distribution over all inclination vectors. In particular, they concern the situation in which the inclination vectors may be not equally probable. Furthermore, by assuming special probability distributions over all inclination vectors, we construct modifications of the Hoede–Bakker index that coincide with the Shapley–Shubik index and with the Holler–Packel index, respectively. We present a practical example in which the concepts in question are applied to Dutch parties, and a theoretical example in which we show how the modifications can be calculated.     

The effect of information overload on consumer choice quality in an on‐line environment

As more and more consumers become part of the net population, retailers and manufacturers as well as dot‐com storefronts are touting consumers by providing an ever‐increasing amount of product information. Their long‐term survival and profitability may be determined by how much and how well their product information is presented to and processed by the consumers. By combining both the traditional and structural approaches to the information‐overload phenomenon, this study investigates the impact of Web site information on consumer choice and psychological states in an on‐line environment. Varying the number of alternatives and attributes (traditional measure) and attribute level distribution across alternatives (structural measure), this study asks subjects to choose the best (dominant) CD player in a given set. Their subjective states such as satisfaction, confidence, and confusion are also measured. Results show that the number of attributes and attribute level distribution are good predictors of the effect of information overload on consumer choice. In addition, the study finds that on‐line information overload results in less satisfied, less confident, and more confused consumers. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The New Economy is dead,long live the information economy

The arrival of the 2001–2003 recession caused many to suppose that the so-called “New Economy” was now defunct. This article addresses a number of related issues, including the question of the durability and viability of business cycles in the face of the technological developments of the information age. It asks what went wrong with the New Economy and examines its characteristics as well as its remaining possibilities and prospects for the future. Finally, it considers the spread of the Information Economy to Europe, especially to Germany, the country that one might expect to be the leading European player, but which is not at present actually a strong competitor for that role.