über die Wirkung der Optionsbündelung auf die Ablaufplanung einer Variantenflie?fertigung Option bundling and its impact on operating mixed-model assembly lines

Bei der Optionsbündelung werden einzelne Ausstattungsmerkmale (Optionen) zu Paketen (Bündeln) zusammengefasst, so dass der Kunde, von einem Grundmodell ausgehend, durch die Auswahl unterschiedlicher Optionsbündel eine bestimmte Produktvariante konfigurieren kann. Im Mittelpunkt dieses Beitrags steht die Beantwortung der Frage, ob eine solche Optionsbündelung den Produktionsablauf positiv beeinflusst. Dabei richtet sich das Augenmerk auf die Produktionsform der Variantenflie?fertigung, die in der Endmontage variantenreicher Endprodukte (etwa in der Automobilindustrie) eine dominierende Stellung einnimmt. Eine umfangreiche computergestützte Evaluierung verdeutlicht einerseits den generell positiven Einfluss der Optionsbündelung und identifiziert andererseits im Rahmen der Betrachtung unterschiedlicher Bündelungsarten die kumulative Bündelung als besonders geeignet.     

Determinanten des deutschen Kreditzinsniveaus

Seit Mitte der 90er Jahre liegt das deutsche Kreditzinsniveau über dem Durchschnitt der EWU. Worauf ist diese Entwicklung zurückzuführen? Sind die deutschen Banken weniger effizient? Liegt der Zinsunterschied an den hohen Refinanzierungskosten? Gibt es in Deutschland mehr Kreditausf?lle, oder sch?tzen die deutschen Banken die Risiken realistischer ein? Dr. Stefan Sch?fer, 34, und Christian Weistroffer, 30, Dipl.-Wirtschaftsingenieur, arbeiten im Referat Banken, Finanzm?rkte und Regulierung von Deutsche Bank Research; Christian Weistroffer forscht au?erdem am Center for Financial Studies, Frankfurt am Main. * Der Beitrag gibt die Meinung der beiden Autoren, aber nicht unbedingt diejenige des Center for Financial Studies oder von Deutsche Bank Research wieder.     

Are Nigerian scientists and engineers effectively utilized? issues on the deployment of scientific and technological labor for national development

It is conventional for many developing countries to conceptualize the utilization of scientific and technological manpower in quantitative terms. A quantitativedefinition of manpower utilization ignores the effectiveness of application of workers' mental and physical abilities. This paper, therefore, presents a qualitative approach to understanding the possibility of Nigeria's scientific and technological manpower to contribute to national development through the effective deployment of their skills and capabilities.Using the conventional job satisfaction/work motivation variables of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, perceived utilization of skills and capabilities was examined on two premises: (1) the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards experienced by Nigerian scientists and engineers are low relative to their original expectations; (2) perceived utilization of skills and capabilities will be greater under increased intrinsic than under increased extrinsic rewards of work. These propositions were tested with interview, observational and survey data collected from 266 Nigerian scientists and engineers selected from seven sectors in five Nigerian states.findings: The two hypotheses were confirmed. It was also found that different sectors have particular traits and processes which make for under-utilization of scientific and technological labor.     

Control and Out-of-Sample Validation of Dependent Risks

This article introduces a framework to determine and allocate capital reserves to multiple dependent business lines, with or without overall reserve level constraints. The proposed methodology emphasizes the role of the loss function in the validation criterion and its conditional interpretation. Univariate and multivariate examples are discussed in detail.     

The causal effect of board size in the performance of small and medium-sized firms

Empirical studies of large publicly traded firms have shown a robust negative relationship between board size and firm performance. The evidence on small and medium-sized firms is less clear; we show that existing work has been incomplete in analyzing the causal relationship due to weak identification strategies. Using a rich data set of almost 7000 closely held corporations we provide a causal analysis of board size effects on firm performance: We use a novel instrument given by the number of children of the chief executive officer (CEO) of the firms. First, we find a strong positive correlation between family size and board size and show this correlation to be driven by firms where the CEO’s relatives serve on the board. Second, we find empirical evidence of a small adverse board size effect driven by the minority of small and medium-sized firms that are characterized by having comparatively large boards of six or more members.     

Contingent payments in selection contests

The early literature on research contests stressed the advantages of a fixed prize in inspiring R&D effort. More recently the focus has moved towards endogenizing the rewards to research activity in these tournament settings, since this can induce extra effort or enhance the surplus of the buyer. We focus on a research contest as a means of selecting a partner for an R&D enterprise, in an informational setting in which the established providers of R&D services know more about each others’ relative capabilities than does the buyer/sponsor. An alternative use of our model is in choosing between prospective patentees where the Patent Trading Office has less information on the patents than the competitors. This asymmetry creates a source of inefficiency if a rank order contest is used as a selection device; we show how the contest can be modified to improve selection efficiency, while maintaining its simplicity (as only ordinal information is required). The modification that we suggest involves endogenizing the prizes that are awarded contingent upon whether a contestant wins or loses the contest. Furthermore, the payment system and the selection mechanism are detail-free. This paper is part of the project “The Knowledge-Based Society” sponsored by the Research Council of Norway (project 172603/V10).     

Risk Sharing and Efficiency Implications of Progressive Pension Arrangements*

This paper aims to quantify the welfare effects of progressive pension arrangements in Germany. Starting from a purely contribution‐related benefit system, we introduce basic allowances for contributions and a flat benefit fraction. Since our overlapping‐generations model takes into account variable labor supply, borrowing constraints as well as stochastic income risk, we can compare the labor supply, the liquidity and the insurance effects of the policy reform. Our simulations indicate that it would be optimal to introduce a flat benefit share of 50 percent and a basic allowance that amounts to 30 percent of average income. Such a reform would yield an aggregate efficiency gain of 3.3 percent of resources.     

Exchange rate models and parameter variation: The case of the Dollar-Mark exchange rate

This paper is drawn from Chapter 3 of the author's doctoral dissertation at the University of Chicago (Wolff, 1985). He is very grateful to the members of his dissertation committee — Michael Mussa (Chairman), Joshua Aizenman, Robert Aliber, Jacob Frenkel, David Hsieh, John Huizinga, and Arnold Zellner — and to seminar participants at the University of Chicago, the London Business School and INSEAD for many helpful comments.