Economics: Its History,Themes, Approaches

This article is not concerned with “A Theory of Value” or “The Theory of Value.” It is strictly limited to a discussion of the concepts specified in its title and consists of three parts. The first of these is concerned with ideas of Charles Sanders Peirce and is based upon a study of his published and unpublished papers contained in the eight-volume edition of his Collected Works.¹ The second part is concerned with ideas of Clarence Ayres, primarily those presented in his Toward A Reasonable Society [Ayres 1961]. The third part contains some brief concluding remarks.     

THE 'BROKEN WINDOWS' THEORY AND THE NEW YORK EXPERIENCE RECONSIDERED

The undeniable success of order-maintenance policing (also community policing or broken windows policing) is despite the deficiency in the theory which propelled the practice into policy: Wilson and Kelling's broken windows theory. We discuss what is wrong with the theory and why it nevertheless works when put into practice.     

Building long-term orientation in buyer–supplier relationships: The moderating role of culture

This research investigates buyer–supplier relationships in international markets. Research and practice have shown that buyer–supplier relationships benefit when partners to the relationship exhibit a long-term orientation. The extant literature suggests that a buyer's trust of a supplier and the supplier's performance affect the buyer's long-term orientation toward the relationship. We propose that the relative effects of trust and performance on long-term orientation are moderated by culture – specifically the individualism/collectivism dimension. Hypotheses are tested on data from two individualist and two collectivist cultures, using responses from over 600 purchasing professionals in the United States, Anglophone Canada, Francophone Canada and Mexico. Taken together, empirical findings suggest that cultural differences warrant consideration in developing successful purchasing strategies.     

Age of first hunting experience: Results from a nationwide recreation survey

Abstract

Hunting participation, as indicated in the 1983 Nationwide Recreation Survey, is examined to determine the relationship between age of first hunting experience and adult level of participation. A statistically significant association between these two variables is found. In addition, more than 83 percent of those who hunt began their involvement by 18 years of age. The findings have implications for future hunting participation and the provision of programs for hunters.     

Managing uncertainty in on-demand air travel

Fractional management companies (FMCs) that provide on-demand air travel services experience frequent changes in aircraft availability and flight requests. We propose scheduling heuristics which are both cost-effective and persistent (i.e., close to the original schedule) to address the uncertainty. The heuristics include pro-actively enforcing idleness of aircraft in creating the original schedule, strategically repositioning aircraft to serve yet-unknown demand and dense scheduling. Computational experiments are conducted in a simulator that mimics FMCs’ daily operations. Simulation results quantify the value of each heuristic, which can be easily incorporated into existing computational methods used in FMCs for static scheduling problems.     

Coordination with a backup supplier through buy-back contract under supply disruption

This paper studies a buy-back contract between a buyer and a backup supplier when the buyer’s main supplier experiences disruptions. The expected profit functions and the optimal decisions of the contract players are derived through a sequential optimization process. The common properties of the contract as well as the differences under the demand uncertainty and the main supplier’s recurrent supply uncertainty are explored through comparative studies and numerical examples. The study contributes to the literature by providing a better understanding of the impacts of demand and supply uncertainties and by shedding insights on the value of a backup supply.     

Trends and prospects of ensuring energy resources in Ukraine

The article examines the state of power supply in Ukraine for the period from 2000 to 2010. The trend in the Ukraine GDP energy intensity (at purchasing power parity), compared to other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, is analyzed. The key points of demand determination and of alternative ways to satisfy it in Ukraine for the period until 2015 are formulated. A forecast of production and consumption of energy resources was conducted in accordance with the expected socioeconomic development of the country through the development of advanced fuel and energy balances.     

Changes in Malaysia: Capital controls,prime ministers and political connections

During the 1997 Asian currency crisis and resulting imposition of capital controls in Malaysia, evidence from previous studies shows that firms with political connections suffered more during the crisis but benefited more when capital controls were introduced. In the period since then, the evidence shows financial firms with political connections have not performed as well as others since the measures set up to support them have been removed. The study period not only includes the relaxation of capital controls, but also the resignation of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad as prime minister and the handover of control to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.