Loading strategies for a freight transport system

Dynamic programming and graph theory are utilized to obtain a solution and portray the policies to be followed at each of a sequence of freight depots. The system involves alternate stages of decision and uncertainty. The objective is to select the size of truck at each depot which will minimize the transport costs, where the events at the future depots are a stochastic variable. The methodology provides a solution, portrayed on a graph, which shows the decision maker what action to take at any decision point and any load size.     

PLANT LOCATION ANALYSIS USING DISCRETE STOCHASTIC PROGRAMMING1*

A plant location model with two major aspects is outlined. First, discrete stochastic programming is used to handle variability in supplies and demands. Second, the cost structure of plants is modelled in more detail and with more realism than is usual. Results from applying the model to the Queensland cattle slaughtering industry demonstrate the inappropriateness of using traditional deterministic plant location models to analyse problems with major stochastic elements. Deterministic models yield plant locations, sizes, throughputs, commodity flows and implications which differ markedly from those generated by stochastic models in which plant sizes and locations are optimally matched to variable fat cattle supplies. In addition, the traditional deterministic long-run model overestimates the normative gains of industry rationalisation.     

Creating low consumer product expectations

The introduction of generic grocery products brought warnings from trade observers that retailers might suffer negative consequences from consumer dissatisfaction with these products. This study investigated consumer expectations and the degree of satisfaction provided consumers by one category of generic products. The study also examined some relationships between the creation of these satisfaction levels and appropriate retail strategies.The study consisted of 320 homemakers evaluating the effect on posttrial satisfaction of positive and negative disconfirmation of expectations concerning generic peaches. The findings suggest that positive disconfirmation increased satisfaction ratings, whereas negative disconfirmation decreased satisfaction ratings. The relationship between merchandising techniques utilized on generic products and consumers' formation of expectations as observed in the study indicates that, in terms of creating satisfaction, promotion of generic products with essentially negative cues has been appropriate.     

A New Database on the Structure and Development of the Financial Sector

This article introduces a new database of indicators of financialstructure and financial development across countries and overtime. The database is unique in that it combines a wide varietyof indicators that measure the size, activity, and efficiencyof financial intermediaries and markets. It improves on previousefforts by presenting data on the public share of commercialbanks, introducing indicators of the size and activity of nonbankfinancial institutions, and constructing measures of the sizeof bond and primary equity markets.     

Variability is beneficial in marked stopping problems

We consider a large class of stopping problems and show that the optimal return increases with increases in the variability of one or more of the distributions from which observations are drawn. This class of stopping problems includes many of the common variants of the standard economic search problem as well as many other stopping problems. The key assumption is that the optimal return is convex in each observation.