Just-in-time inventory control: A subset of channel management

Marketing managers began adopting the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) method of inventory control from the manufacturing industry almost thirty years ago. A new approach, “Just-In-Time” inventory, pioneered by Japanese firms, should be considered. This approach consists of at least two significant phases: one, technical, based on instantaneous communication flow and the computer; and secondly, behavioral, emphasizing improved cooperation between members of the channel system.     

The General Public and the Art Museum: Case Studies of Visitors to Several Institutions Identify Characteristics of Weir Publics

Abstract . From case studies at several art museums, characteristics of several types of museum goers have been identified. Typically museum visitors are in the upper educational, occupational and income groups, younger than the population in general (average age is 34) and active in community and leisure-time organizations. Frequent visitors do so to be with people, to do something they consider worthwhile, to use surroundings in which they feel comfortable and at ease, to be challenged by new experiences, to use an opportunity to learn and to participate actively in an experience they value. Replication in the U.S. of a classic study in England corroborates its findings.     

Increase response to industrial surveys

The results of this article support the contention that a prenotification telephone call increases the probability of response to a mail survey request. The article also discusses the practical problems associated with the use of a telephone prenotification in an industrial setting and provides a step-by-step procedure to help overcome these problems.     

Robustness and Pricing with Uncertain Growth

We study how decision-makers' concerns about robustness affectprices and quantities in a stochastic growth model. In the modeleconomy, growth rates in technology are altered by infrequentlarge shocks and continuous small shocks. An investor observesmovements in the technology level but cannot perfectly distinguishtheir sources. Instead the investor solves a signal extractionproblem. We depart from most of the macroeconomics and financeliterature by presuming that the investor treats the specificationof technology evolution as an approximation. To promote a decisionrule that is robust to model misspecification, an investor actsas if a malevolent player threatens to perturb the actual data-generatingprocess relative to his approximating model. We study how aconcern about robustness alters asset prices. We show that thedynamic evolution of the risk-return trade-off is dominatedby movements in the growth-state probabilities and that theevolution of the dividend-price ratio is driven primarily bythe capital-technology ratio.     

The kitchen and the multinational corporation: An analysis of the links between the household and global corporations

The paper examines relationships between multinational corporations and the unwaged work women do in their homes. It is argued that far from being a sanctuary, the home has become a dumpsite for unnecessary and unsafe products. Women in North America and the Third World are now dealing with health and safety issues in their neighbourhoods and households. Consciousness of these dangers has resulted in mobilization and the formation of alliances aimed at confronting multinationals and securing more government regulation. The experience of one group of women in a small Ontario community is described. Harriet Rosenberg is Assistant Professor in the Social Science Division at York University. She is the Principal Investigator of a SSHRC Grant for her Aging and Caregiving in an African Population. She is the co-author of Through the Kitchen Window: The Politics of Home and Family, with M. Luxton, Network Basic Series, Garamond Press, Toronto; and co-author with M. FitzGerald of Surviving in the City: Urbanization in the Third World, Oxfam, Toronto.Paper presented at Women and the Invisible Economy Conference, Institute Simone de Beauvoir, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Feb. 22, 1985.     

Generalized least squares inference in panel and multilevel models with serial correlation and fixed effects

In this paper, I consider generalized least squares (GLS) estimation in fixed effects panel and multilevel models with autocorrelation. The presence of fixed effects complicates implementation of GLS as estimating the fixed effects will typically render standard estimators of the covariance parameters necessary for obtaining feasible GLS estimates inconsistent. I focus on the case where the disturbances follow an AR(p) process and offer a simple to implement bias-correction for the AR coefficients. The usefulness of GLS and the derived bias-correction for the parameters of the autoregressive process is illustrated through a simulation study which uses data from the Current Population Survey.     

A Realized Variance for the Whole Day Based on Intermittent High-Frequency Data

We consider the problem of deriving an empirical measure ofdaily integrated variance (IV) in the situation where high-frequencyprice data are unavailable for part of the day. We study threeestimators in this context and characterize the assumptionsthat justify their use. We show that the optimal combinationof the realized variance and squared overnight return can bedetermined, despite the latent nature of IV, and we discussthis result in relation to the problem of combining forecasts.Finally, we apply our theoretical results and construct fouryears of daily volatility estimates for the 30 stocks of theDow Jones Industrial Average.     

Reflection on technology in education

Reflection has become a buzzword in the educational profession. Its meaning, however, frequently remains vague. In this paper the meaning of reflection for technology education is elaborated on three levels. The first is a philosophical and educational level. The idea of Bildung, conceived as the formation of an autonomous personality, becomes a central category for instruction about technology. The second level is the realm of curriculum development and teachers' planning. The reference to Bildung implies that technology education should be based on technological key problems that apply to all members of society. On the third level, the meaning of reflection will be elaborated in the context of a qualitative research approach on teacher thinking in technology education. It resorts to the categories of the curriculum model and is illustrated by a case study on teacher planning in computer education.Dr K.-H. Hansen is a researcher at the Institute for Science Education (IPN) in Kiel. After some years of experience as a technician he studied sociology and graduated in education. He has published in computer education with an emphasis on pedagogical, historical, and social aspects. His research work comprises qualitative and quantitative studies of the educational uses of computers. His current research interests are the conceptual role of technology in integrated science and in STS education.     

Shiftable Externalities: A Market Solution

In this paper we propose a regulatory scheme for what has become known as shiftable externalities (Not In My Backyard type garbage location problemswhere the externality is characterized by the absence of jointness in supply).The scheme facilitates the establishment of a market for the externality, and it isfeasible for a wider class of regulation problems and more information efficientthan the other regulatory schemes that have been proposed for this type ofexternality. Finally, we show that it is possible to decentralize the participationdecision so as to take account of verification costs.