Inflation und Schuldenabbau

The European Central Bank (ECB) recently announced its willingness to do whatever is needed to save the euro. This has raised the question whether such a role of the ECB must lead to higher rates of infl ation. Under current recessive macroeconomic conditions in the eurozone, the ECB’s expansionary monetary policy will not lead to higher infl ation. On the contrary, there is a serious danger of defl ation. Higher infl ation would likely occur only if a permanent stabilisation function were assigned to the ECB. Yet historical examples show that mistakes can be made. During the stagnation in Japan, US economists heavily criticised the Bank of Japan’s timid monetary policy response. But in some sense, current Fed policy seems to be a direct copy of that strategy, caused by uncertainty about the proper communication channel. An infl ation tax could help to bring down the mounting public debt in the wake of the fi nancial crisis, but higher wealth taxes have more transparent distributional effects.     

Investitionsvolumen und Herausforderungen eines nationalen Glasfaserausbaus in Deutschland

Der fl?chendeckende Glasfaserausbau in Deutschland ist mit hohen Kosten verbunden. Insbesondere die Anschlüsse in dünn besiedelten Gebieten lassen die Kosten steigen. Die Autoren berechnen verschiedene M?glichkeiten der Kostenaufteilung.     

Liquidity Considerations in Estimating Implied Volatility

Option markets have significant variation in liquidity across different option series. Illiquidity reduces the informativeness of the price. Price information for illiquid options is more noisy, and thus the implied volatilities (IVs) based on these prices are more noisy. In this study, we propose weighting schemes to estimate IV, which reduce the importance attached to illiquid options. The two indexes using liquidity weights are SVIX, which is a spread‐adjusted volatility index, and TVVIX, which is a traded volume weighted VIX. We find SVIX outperforms TVVIX, the conventional schemes such as the traditional VXO, or vega weights, and volatility elasticity weights. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 32:714‐742, 2012     

Linking Order Fulfillment Performance to Referrals in Online Retailing: An Empirical Analysis

Referral management for online retailers is a strategically important activity, as referrals offer a highly cost‐effective method of customer acquisition. In fact, online customers mention referrals as the second‐most common reason for choosing to shop at a particular retailer, second only to search engine suggestions. However, while online retailers are able to improve their visibility on search engines through focused keyword insertions, they are often unable to pinpoint the drivers of referral behavior among their customers. The current research examines the relationship between two key dimensions of online retailing: order fulfillment cycle times and referral behavior. Employing a theory of customer appraisal and empirically testing the ensuing model using structural equation modeling, we find that excellent order fulfillment is instrumental in generating referrals for the online retailer, even after factoring in product quality.     

Optimization Modeling for Logistics: Options and Implementations

Logistics optimization has significantly grown in popularity over the last few decades. Improvements in computing power, modeling software, and the willingness of companies to invest time in the modeling effort have allowed models that were once too unwieldy to solve to optimality to be solved quickly. This has led to a more wide‐spread recognition by logistics managers of the potential advantages of using optimization. The scope of logistics optimization in companies and organizations has expanded to address strategic, tactical, operational, and collaborative decision making. Spreadsheets, an analytical tool familiar to managers, have played a crucial role in the expanded modeling efforts of companies. Although optimization’s role in logistics has grown tremendously, there still are areas that remain to be explored that will allow it to achieve an even larger and more successful role in the management of companies. Additionally, there are some models that are still too large or too complex to currently solve to optimality, despite the advances in computing power and modeling/solving software.     

Promotion Mechanisms on the PGA TOUR

The dynamics of screening talent and promoting an athlete to a major team sports league is not entirely different from that of a major individual sports league. While talent is assessed through mechanisms offering more or less observations, coaching decisions and team quality that can affect performance in team sports are generally not present in individual sports. Avoiding the possible distortions that can come from assessing athletic talent in team sports, this article examines the ability of two PGA TOUR promotion mechanisms—the Nationwide Tour and Qualifying School (Q‐school)—to predict success. As expected, the results suggest that more observations from the Nationwide Tour assessment mechanism provide more information about talent that can be used to better predict success on the PGA TOUR. But place of finish also matters, so promotion through the Nationwide Tour alone is not sufficient for a player to have the greatest chance for success.     

Disrupting the consultants: Could the advisers use some advice?

Management consulting is a relatively new profession. Such consulting firms have become revered as thought‐leading think tanks and cutting‐edge research organizations. Yet, as they teach their clients to grow, thrive, and innovate, is it possible that top management consulting firms are being disrupted themselves? Even the most seemingly unassailable businesses fall victim to disruption, while others benefit from it to enjoy tremendous growth. Top consultancies are keenly aware of rising competition from emerging‐market information technology firms. Therefore, many have taken countermeasures such as expanding their operations in emerging markets and designing outsourcing strategies to mitigate cost gaps. Time will tell if these efforts prove successful. This article attempts to illustrate how the business of consulting is—after all—a business itself that is subject to the forces and perils therein. Top consultants would be well advised to confront disruption head on, rather than robotically focusing up‐market or silently hoping themselves immune. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.