R and D Project Selection and Evaluation: A Microcomputer-Based Approach

This paper develops microcomputer-based R and D project selection and project evaluation models. The models use Lotus 1-2-3 as a vehicle to provide practical research management support suitable for a developing country. The models are readily adaptable for various R and D management applications.     

Philanthropy's new agenda: creating value

During the past two decades, the number of charitable foundations in the United States has doubled while the value of their assets has increased more than 1,100%. As new wealth continues to pour into foundations, the authors take a timely look at the field and conclude that radical change is needed. First, they explain why. Compared with direct giving, foundations are strongly favored through tax preferences whose value increases in rising stock markets. As a nation, then, we make a substantial investment in foundation philanthropy that goes well beyond the original gifts of private donors. We should therefore expect foundations to achieve a social impact disproportionate to their spending. If foundations serve merely as passive conduits for giving, then they not only fall far short of their potential but also fail to meet an important societal obligation. Drawing on Porter's work on competition and strategy, the authors then present a framework for thinking systematically about how foundations create value and how the various approaches to value creation can be deployed within the context of an overarching strategy. Although many foundations talk about "strategic" giving, much current practice is at odds with strategy. Among the common problems, foundations scatter their funding too broadly, they overlook the value-creating potential of longer and closer working relationships with grantees, and they pay insufficient attention to the ultimate results of the work they fund. This article lays out a blueprint for change, challenging foundation leaders to spearhead the evolution of philanthropy from private acts of conscience into a professional field.     

Fair imposition

We introduce a new mechanism-design problem called fair imposition. In this setting a center wishes to fairly allocate tasks among a set of agents whose cost structures are known only to them, and thus will not reveal their true costs without appropriate incentives. The center, with the power to impose arbitrary tasks and payments on the agents, has the additional goal that his net payment to these agents is never positive (or, that it is tightly bounded if a loss is unavoidable). We consider two different notions of fairness that the center may wish to achieve. The central notion, which we call k-fairness, is in the spirit of max-min fairness. We present both positive results (in the form of concrete mechanisms) and negative results (in the form of impossibility theorems) concerning these criteria. We also briefly discuss an alternative, more traditional interpretation of our setting and results, in the context of auctions.     

Evaluation designs for technology assessments and forecasts

The worth of technology assessments and technological forecasts need not remain a matter of faith; indeed, it cannot. Evaluation of technology assessments and forecasts is indicated both to assess their effectiveness and to provide feedback useful for improving the state of the art. Drawing upon evaluation research, we present a range of alternative evaluation designs that fit into four general categories; pre-planned or post-hoc evaluations of single studies; pre-planned or post-hoc comparisons among multiple studies. We distinguish among three classes of performance objectives meriting evaluative attention: validity, utility, and advancement of the methodological art. For each objective we in turn consider pros and cons of several specific evaluation designs. We conclude with recommendations for two coordinated, but selective, evaluation programs, one focused on comparison among extrapolative forecasting techniques and one devoted to certain aspects of technology assessment methods and utilization.     

Risk factor and industry effects in the cross-country comovement of momentum returns

This paper examines the sources of cross-country comovement of momentum returns over the 1975–2004 period. Using data on more than 17,000 individual firms across 100 industries from 40 countries, we document the profitability of country-neutral individual firm, industry, and industry-adjusted return momentum. We show that country-neutral momentum returns are significantly correlated across countries, the correlation is time-varying, and that comovement among industries cannot explain the comovement of country-neutral momentum returns. However, we find that standard risk factor models do explain a significant portion of the cross-country comovement of momentum returns, even though they do not explain average momentum returns.