Selecting between batch and zone order picking strategies in a distribution center

An order picking strategy in a distribution center (DC) defines the manner in which pickers navigate the picking area to pick items from storage locations. We focus on the problem of selecting between a batch picking and a zone picking strategy. For this problem, we propose a cost model to estimate the cost of each type of picking strategy. In our cost model we consider the effects of pick-rate, picker blocking, workload-imbalance, and the sorting system requirement. Through an example problem, we show how system throughput, order sizes, item distribution in orders, and wavelength affect the picking strategy selection decision.     

Measurement of cost inefficiency with safety first measure of risk

The objectives of this paper are to incorporate a measure of risk aversion in the translog frontier cost function to estimate cost inefficiency. Risk-averse behaviour of farmers is hypothesised to reduce efficiency by leading to a situation in which the marginal value product of an input is less than price. In developing agriculture, farmers are aware of their subsistence needs and seek to minimize the probability of their incomes falling below a disaster level of income. Using such a safety first principle, a measure of risk-taking is developed and explained by socio-economic characteristics. This measure is used in the translog cost function as a fixed input and, using the frontier approach (with half normal distribution of inefficiency disturbance), a measure of cost inefficiency is obtained. This is related to socio-economic characteristics such as education, assets and holding size. A survey data of 436 farmers for the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan is used to reach policy conclusions for reducing cost inefficiency.     

Social structure,reasonable gain,and entrepreneurship in Africa

In the context of desperate poverty, characterized by households at subsistence level that experience economic loss and social fracture, explanations for why individuals undertake entry into entrepreneurship are limited. We find that individuals rely on their social relationships to enable entrepreneurial activities that have the potential to create a reasonable income gain. In a sample of 1,049 households in rural Kenya, we test whether the disintegration of social structure attenuates entrepreneurial behavior. When coupled with factors such as income loss, gender of the household head, and access to communal resources, social structure plays a pivotal role in entrepreneurial action. We propose that the search for reasonable income gain is a key driver of entrepreneurial action at subsistence levels, thereby adding to behavioral explanations of entrepreneurship. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The burden of preserved ejection fraction heart failure in a real-world Swedish patient population

Objectives:

To evaluate resource use and associated costs in patients with a diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HF-PEF) in Sweden.

Methods:

This retrospective study identified real-world patients with an ICD-10 diagnosis code for heart failure (I50) for the period between July 1, 2005 and December 31, 2006 from electronic medical records of primary care centers in Uppsala County Council, and in the Swedish patient registry data. Patients were categorized as having HF-PEF (left ventricle ejection fraction [LVEF] > 50%) during the index period. The study assessed medication utilization, outpatient visits, hospitalizations, and associated healthcare costs, as well as the incidence rates and time to all-cause and heart failure mortality following the index period.

Results:

The study included 137 HF-PEF patients with a mean age of 77.1 (SD?=?9.1) years. Over 50% of HF-PEF patients were female and hypertensive. Nearly all patients received ≥1 medication post-index. Patients had an average of 1.5 heart failure related hospitalizations per follow-up year. The average annual per patient cost for the management of a HF-PEF patient was found in Sweden to be Swedish Krona (SEK) 108,246 (EURO [EUR] 11,344). Hospitalizations contributed to more than 80% of the total cost. All-cause mortality over the 18-month study period was 25.5%, and more than 50% of these deaths occurred within 1 year of index.

Limitations:

Due to the limitations of registry data, it is not possible to confirm the HF diagnosis, and therefore the accuracy of registry records must be assumed. Other factors such as short follow-up time, the study-mandated LVEF assessment, and a lack of drug duration data may also have an impact on the study results.

Conclusions:

All-cause mortality was high in the HF-PEF population, with more than half of patients dying within 1 year of study follow-up. Study results also indicate that 60% of HF-PEF patients have ≥1 hospitalization during follow-up. Hospitalizations, especially heart failure related admissions, represent a substantial proportion of the total healthcare burden of patients with HF-PEF in Sweden.     

The impact of perception and other factors on the adoption of agricultural technology in the Moret and Jiru Woreda (district) of Ethiopia

The objectives of this study arc to examine both the significance of the impact of farmers' perceptions regarding new technology for the adoption decision and how perceptions themselves are influenced by the decision to adopt new technology. The study is based on data from 96 wheat farms in the Moret and Jiru woreda (district) of Ethiopia. The probit approach is used to analyse the adoption decision, while the variables relevant to farmers' perceptions are modelled using the ordered probit methodology. A simultaneous equations model combining the probit and ordered probit approaches provides a useful approach to modelling the two-way relationship between perception and adoption. Variables such as farm size, farm income and soil type have a key role to play in the model. Perception is measured by eight different components and as there is a strong collinearity among these various measures, a principal components analysis is attempted to draw the best possible linear combination of variables.     

Price behaviour in European countries: testing the law of one price in the short– and long–run at various levels of aggregation

The objectives of this paper are to test the relaltive version of the law of one price in the short and the long run at various levels of aggregation for traded goods. The use of an error-correction model is made to test the validity of the hypothesis in the short run with a built-in tendency to one price in the long run. Using unit value trade data at the aggregate, 2-digit and 3-digit levels of the Standard International Trade Classification, the law of one price is generally rejected in the short run, although a long-run proportional relatlionship between prices of fairy homogeneous products are used the hypothesis is rejected both in the short and long run. This suggests that non-price changes which are likely to be incorporated in unit values are probably gradual and affect EEC countries in a similar manner. Price changes, however, are somewhat erratic and hence with unitvalue data, the law of one price in the long run is not contradicted, while it is refuted at the disaggregate level when price data are used.     

MULTIVARIATE COINTEGRATION APPROACH TO THE DETERMINATION OF RESERVES AND BANK CREDIT: A CASE STUDY OF TURKEY*

The paper estimates both long-run reserves and long-run money demand equations using the multivariate cointegration approach. An economic model is constructed, based on the monetary approach to balance of payments in which the monetary authorities can control money supply through changes in bank credit. The vector auto-regressive methodology is used to derive latent equilibrium relationships, and the short-run error correction equations are estimated for both nominal money stock and reserves. A response function for the short-run changes in bank credit is developed. Given the institutional system and slow adjustments, a response function of changes in bank credit to lagged changes in reserves performs well for the period 1960–88.     

A Model for Predicting Outcomes of Sexual Harassment Complaints by Race and Gender

Organizational scholars have studied the impact of sex on sexual harassment outcomes but left unexplored the influences of race. Thus, we use social identity theory to explore the role of race stereotypes and their influences on sexual harassment outcomes. We posit that stereotypes of African-American women tend to be much more negative than those of white women and this serves to marginalize their position both as victims of sexual harassment as well as complainants.