Optimizing the credit term decisions in supply chain finance

We study a credit term determination problem in the context of a supplier-buyer supply chain. The supplier's credit term decision is simultaneously made with its production and inventory decisions, and most importantly, it is impacted by the buyer's order quantity. We present a new game-theoretic framework to model this problem, which captures the interaction between the supplier's credit term decision and the buyer's order decision in a multi-period setting. An exact method based on nonlinear programming is implemented to obtain the optimal solutions. We apply our methodologies on a real world case. The computational results show that our approach significantly outperforms the heuristics with fixed credit terms, and either a short or a long credit term can be sub-optimal for the supplier in profitability. Our work offers the first data-driven model and solution approach that assists purchasing and supply managers to make optimal dynamic credit term decision in conjunction with production, ordering and inventory decisions in a game-theoretic setting.     

The effect of heterogeneous beliefs on mergers and acquisitions

This article investigates the effect of heterogeneous beliefs on firms’ mergers and acquisitions (M&A) decisions. Using data of China’s financial market, which is featured with great heterogeneity of belief, we find that heterogeneous beliefs are positively associated with the occurrence of M&A transactions, and firms with greater heterogeneous beliefs are more likely to pay the transactions with stock. Moreover, we show that government intervention, measured by state ownership, weakens the effect of heterogeneous beliefs on firms’ M&A decisions.     

Convergence analysis and optimal strike choice for static hedges of general path-independent pay-offs

In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to find the optimal static replicating portfolios for general path-independent nonlinear pay-off functions and give an estimate for the rate of convergence that is absent in the literature. We choose the static replication by designing an adaptation function arising in the error bound between the nonlinear pay-off function and the linear spline approximation and derive the equidistribution equation for selecting the optimal strikes. The numerical tests for variance swaps, swaptions, static quadratic hedges and also for a jump-diffusion process, allowing for the default of the underlying asset, show that the proposed iterative equidistribution equation algorithm is simple, fast and accurate. The paper generalizes and improves the results on static replication and approximation in the literature.     

Establishing statistical foundations of a chronology for the great divergence: a survey and critique of the primary sources for the construction of relative wage levels for Ming–Qing China

This article is a survey and critique of recent endeavours to establish statistical foundations for a chronology for the great divergence based upon trends and levels in relative wages. Our reading of the bibliography in Chinese labour history, together with a preliminary investigation into other primary sources, suggests that the Kuznetsian paradigm for empirical economics may not be viable for the construction of analytical narratives for the Chinese and other premodern imperial economies in South and West Asia. Nevertheless, two datasets currently in print will continue to be quoted to lend support to numerically grounded speculations for levels and trends in real wages and welfare for the families of wage‐dependent urban workers in China over the eighteenth century. Statistical evidence for the Ming and Qing dynasties calibrated for the purposes of comparing real wage levels for wage‐dependent labour between China and western Europe can, however, be placed on a spectrum for accuracy and inferential analysis that runs from ‘unfounded guess work’ to ‘plausible conjectures’. The unwelcome contention of this article is that the data published and potentially available for China (and probably for India and the Ottoman Empire) stand close to the unfounded guess work end of that spectrum. Meanwhile, and as a speculative conclusion, we offer a conjecture that the ‘real wages’ for Qing China's tiny proletariat, whose income included high proportions of wages in kind, have remained as elusive as they were when the real wage debate began a decade ago.     

The influence of risk preferences,knowledge, land consolidation,and landscape diversification on pesticide use

Researchers have spent substantial effort to identify factors influencing pesticide use intensity. However, few studies have compared the relative importance of these factors. This study examines four categories of factors that potentially influence farmers’ pesticide use decisions by evaluating incentivized experiment data, farm survey data, and remote sensing data in China. Our results suggest that land diversification has the largest effect on farmers’ pesticide use. Compared with the most rice-intensive landscape type, less rice-intensive systems cause farmers to spray less on middle rice. Heavy pesticide use intensity is associated with land fragmentation as small-scale farms still dominate crop production. Farmers’ integrated pest management knowledge has significant effects on pesticide use. We also find that loss and ambiguity preferences, rather than risk preferences, are more likely to affect pesticide use intensity.     

中国酒店餐饮中的食品营养问题分析

随着人们消费观念的提升和生活节奏的加快,在餐馆酒店就餐机会越来越多。酒店就餐已成为中国人的一种生活方式。目前,我国酒店餐饮业蓬勃发展,但也存在着诸多问题,如片面追求食物色香味,忽视与人健康息息相关的营养问题,这些问题导致我国酒店餐饮业发展不均衡,长期以往,对居民身体健康将产生不利影响,因此解决酒店食品营养问题成为摆在酒店行业的重要工作。本文从酒店餐饮中食品营养现状出发,分析问题存在的原因,进而提出解决问题的方法,为我国酒店餐饮业的发展提供新的思路和发展方向。     

塔里木油田哈得区块标准井及标准井标准工艺流程的构建

为缩短钻井周期、节约钻井成本,塔北项目部率先提出了以标准井及标准工艺流程为经度,以标准化设计、标准化安全管理、标准化工期及费用、标准化质量控制及考核机制为纬度的"五标"管理理念,而标准井及标准工艺流程为构建"五标"管理理念的关键。根据对哈得区块已完钻的直井、水平井、侧钻井、定向井的统计分析,并结合实际生产开发情况,确定了以直井和水平井作为哈得区块标准井的井型;根据标准井产层的各项地层参数,确定了相应标准井的钻头尺寸组合、钻进深度、套管规格、套管下深、泥浆体系、测井等参数,从而构建了哈得区块直井和水平井2种井型的标准井;同时依据各标准井构建了相应标准井的标准工艺流程。通过塔北项目部的生产实践表明,标准井及标准井的标准工艺流程的构建大大有助于提高油田的经济效益和管理效率。     

员工创造力激发研究评述：多层次多视角机制与精神性动力

员工创造力是组织创新的先决条件和根本源泉，员工创造力激发成为经典的研究主题，并取得了相当丰富的研究成果，然而，国内却鲜见针对员工创造力激发机制进行全方位、多层面和多视角的梳理与总结。对员工创造力的激发机制研究进行系统回顾和深入分析，首先，从员工创造力激发的理论基础出发，总结员工创造力激发的经典理论；其次，按照个体、团队和组织的逻辑顺序对以往散见在各个组织层次的员工创造力激发机制进行多视角梳理和探讨。随着研究的深入，组织内精神性逐渐成为员工创造力激发的新兴动力，为此，从多个视角归纳基于精神性的员工创造力激发机制；最后，展望未来研究方向，以期推动员工创造力激发机制研究走向深入和完善。