The scheduling and organization of periodic associative computation: Efficient networks

This paper characterizes the efficient decentralized networks for calculating the associative aggregate of cohorts of data of a fixed size that arrive periodically. Radner (1993) proposed this problem of periodic parallel associative computation as a model of the ongoing information processing and communication by the administrative staff of a large organization. For a simpler model in which the organization processes a single cohort of data – which is equivalent to the periodic model when the agents are paid only when busy – he found that the efficient networks are hierarchical but quite irregular, even though the computation problem and technology are each symmetric. In the periodic model in which managers are paid even when idle, it becomes important to minimize idle time when scheduling managers to processing tasks. Such scheduling appears more difficult when each problem is processed by an irregular hierarchy, which suggest that hierarchies might be more regular in the periodic model. However, we show that in a class of efficient networks for periodic computation that spans the efficiency frontier, the processing of each cohort is similar to the efficient processing of a single cohort, and the overall organizational structure is not even hierarchical. Received: 15 October 1994 / Accepted: 6 March 1997     

Conducting Online Surveys

The World Wide Web (WWW) is increasingly being used as a tool and platform for survey research. Two types of electronic or online surveys available for data collection are the email and Web based survey, and they constitute the focus of this paper. We address a multitude of issues researchers should consider before and during the use of this method of data collection: advantages and liabilities with this form of survey research, sampling problems, questionnaire design considerations, suggestions in approaching potential respondents, response rates and aspects of data processing. Where relevant, the methodological issues involved are illustrated with examples from our own research practice. This methods review shows that most challenges are resolved when taking into account the principles that guide the conduct of conventional surveys.     

An Evaluation Instrument for Collaborative Processes: Application to Organizational Policy-Making

Decision-making in organizations is guided by policies. Organizational policy-making is a complex process in which several parties are involved, with multiple backgrounds, incompatible interests, and diverging areas of interest, yet they all have to be brought together to produce an acceptable policy result. Therefore, we propose to use techniques from collaboration engineering (CE) in this context. There is hardly any experience with CE in the field of organizational policy-making. In order to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of CE in organizational policy-making, it is important to have a systematic evaluation instrument. We distinguish between general and domain-specific indicators. Moreover, we consider measurement means and operationalization tools, such that organizational policy-making stakeholders can apply our instrument in their own organization.     

Is backdating executive stock options always costly to shareholders?

We use a binomial model to investigate the cost to shareholders of backdating employee stock option (ESO) grants to award in‐the‐money rather than at‐the‐money options to a manager. When the expected return of the stock underlying an ESO is sufficiently close to the risk‐free rate, a backdating arrangement can always be structured to simultaneously improve shareholders’ wealth and the manager's utility. The smaller the manager's non‐option wealth, personal income tax rate or risk tolerance, the more likely a backdating arrangement can be welfare improving.     

Pairs trading

‘Pairs Trading’ is an investment strategy used by many Hedge Funds. Consider two similar stocks which trade at some spread. If the spread widens short the high stock and buy the low stock. As the spread narrows again to some equilibrium value, a profit results. This paper provides an analytical framework for such an investment strategy. We propose a mean-reverting Gaussian Markov chain model for the spread which is observed in Gaussian noise. Predictions from the calibrated model are then compared with subsequent observations of the spread to determine appropriate investment decisions. The methodology has potential applications to generating wealth from any quantities in financial markets which are observed to be out of equilibrium.     

Moral Hazards,Bankruptcy Costs,and International Financial Capital Mobility*

Using a model with moral hazard and bankruptcy costs, we show that the direction of intertemporal trade between countries depends on differences in their autarkic distributions of wealth. We also examine the consequences of redistribution policies and bail‐out policies in this framework. We show that, in the presence of bankruptcy cost and capital market imperfections due to moral hazard, the very rich and the very poor do not undertake any risk and choose to be passive lenders. Only individuals whose wealth lies within an intermediate range choose to become entrepreneurs. Redistributive policies influence the supply of entrepreneurship and autarkic interest rates.     

中越经济改革的比较

目前,中国的经济改革已经将近30年,越南的改革进程也有了21年。在此期间,两国经济都取得了令人瞩目的成就,本文将就两国经济改革的相同点与不同点进行阐述,并分析两国经济改革面临的挑战。     

THE MICRO‐DYNAMICS OF CATCH‐UP IN INDONESIAN PAPER MANUFACTURING

In this study we analyze the micro‐dynamics of catch‐up in Indonesian paper manufacturing, using a two‐country plant‐level dataset for the period 1975–97. We apply data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure to what extent Indonesian paper mills are catching up with Finnish mills in terms of technical efficiency. Three questions are addressed: What is the distribution of Indonesian plant technical efficiency vis‐à‐vis the technological frontier? What is the role of entry, exit, and survival in Indonesia for catch‐up in the paper industry as a whole? In what ways do catching‐up plants in Indonesia differ from non‐catching‐up plants? We find that on average the Indonesian paper industry moved closer to the technological frontier during the 1990s. However, catch‐up has been a highly localized process in which only a few large establishments have achieved near best‐practice performance, while most other plants have stayed behind.     

African Poverty Reduction Strategy Programmes and the Fisheries Sector: Current Situation and Opportunities*

Abstract: The formulation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) is one of the main conditions for concessional lending by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to developing countries. Nevertheless, while evidence indicates that the fisheries sector can contribute (often markedly at the local level) to improved livelihoods and the achievement of food security in Africa, the sector is often neglected in PRSPs. This article focuses on the 29 African states that have currently produced a PRSP, highlighting those nations for whom the fisheries sector has been a significant motor of economic growth or likely poverty refuge. It then analyses the extent to which the fisheries sector is incorporated into national PRSPs. Results of a mapping exercise demonstrate that while the sector is significant (in either growth or poverty terms) in 12 states, the sector was effectively mainstreamed in only three national PRSPs (Ghana, Guinea and Senegal).