Arab agriculture — prospects for self-sufficiency

The article points out that, although the relative importance of the agricultural sector in the Arab world is declining as the importance of oil rises, it is still vital to Arab countries. Selfsufficiency in agriculture is desirable because of a possible cutoff of food imports for political reasons by the food-exporting countries. The article examines the possibilities for Arab selfsufficiency and suggests several alternative strategies.     

Bus transportation crews planning by goal programming

In the present paper, an integer goal programming model formulation is presented for the bus transportation crews planning to find an optimal schedule in which each crew is assigned two days off (consecutive or non-consecutive) per week and several goals like upper and lower limits on the total number of crews having consecutive and/or non-consecutive days off on each day, lower limit on the number of crews having consecutive days off on the particular pairs of consecutive days, and minimization of the number of crews having non-consecutive days off, are taken into consideration. The model is demonstrated by a numerical example.     

Customer value analysis in a heterogeneous market

In recent years, customer value has become a major focus among strategy researchers and practitioners as an essential element of a firm's competitive strategy. Many firms have been interested in Customer Value Analysis (CVA) which involves a structural analysis of the antecedent factors of perceived value (i.e., perceived quality and perceived price) to assess their relative importance in the perceptions of their buyers. We develop a statistical approach for performing CVA utilizing a recursive simultaneous equation model that is formulated to accommodate buyer heterogeneity. In particular, the proposed finite‐mixture methodology allows one to estimate the relative effects and integration rules of perceived value drivers at the market segment level, as well as to simultaneously determine the (unknown) segments themselves. We demonstrate the utility of the proposed methodology via an actual commercial application involving a large electric utility company. Finally, we discuss the contributions of our research from the perspective of firm strategy and how it may be extended in the future. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Imitative innovation and international joint ventures: a dynamic analysis

In this paper we deal with some dynamic issues of international joint venture in the context of a developing country. We provide a rationale for international joint venture formation, as well as its subsequent instability, where instability is interpreted as payoff readjustments between the partners in the venture. Although the joint venture is formed in response to government restrictions on foreign equity holdings in the first period, its subsequent instability is caused by both the change in government policy, as well as the outcome of imitative technological innovation undertaken by the host partner. It is also shown that uncertainty about the government policy in the second period plays an important role in the formation of joint venture in the first period.     

Performance Impact of the Elimination of Direct Labor Variance Reporting: A Field Study

Using a field study approach, we examine two competing perspectives on direct labor variance reporting: some argue that direct labor variance reporting is costly and cumbersome, and should be eliminated; whereas others contend that without direct labor variance information, managers will not be able to monitor workers effectively, causing workers to shirk and worker productivity to decline. Specifically, we investigate the productivity and quality impacts of eliminating direct labor variance reporting with panel data containing 36 months of data from seven experimental plants that eliminated direct labor variance reporting and 11 control plants that did not. The experimental plants experienced a significant decline in labor productivity compared to the control plants. Also, the experimental plants showed an improvement in product quality, indicating that workers reallocate their efforts to other tasks as a result of the change in the information set available to evaluate them.     

Awareness,diffusion of information and reasons for adoption of vasectomy: a study of family planning in Bihar

A survey carried out to study problems related to Indian vasectomy camps organized at Patna and Jamue towns had the following major purposes: 1) to determine to what extent vasectomy adopters were aware of the family planning program; 2) to determine advantages perceived of adopting vasectomy; 3) to determine how the adopters became aware of the vasectomy camps; and 4) to determine why adopters chose permanent conception control. 200 adopters from Patna and an equal number from Jamue were selected, based on an accidental sampling technique whereby each adopter was contacted and persuaded to be interviewed. It was found that a majority of the adopters were illiterates. Among advantages listed by adopters, the importance of family planning seemed to be subdued by propensity to better their economic condition. It was seen that the literate adopters have a much higher proportion of awareness of the need for family planning and population control. Concerning diffusion of information, the informal and interpersonal sources were equally effective and conducive for the adopters. More than l/2 of the adopters relied upon information provided by friends. In general, higher levels of education correlate with less influence of friends as communicators. The official sources turned out to be effective for the more highly educated adopters. The following advantages were called out as reasons for vasectomy adoption by adopter : 1) permanence; 2) economical reasons; 3) no reason; or 4) many reasons. Whatever the reasons, it is obvious that vasectomy is gaining momentum gradually and people are becoming aware of the underlying advantages of permanent conception control.     

Why money meanings matter in decisions to donate time and money

Most charitable organizations cannot accomplish their missions without asking for money. This is paradoxical because recent research suggests that mentioning money primes a self-sufficient mindset, thus undermining the very behaviors these organizations desire to elicit. We offer an important qualification to this problematic effect. We find that priming cash concepts reduces willingness to help others, while activating credit card concepts reverses these effects. To explain our findings, in three studies we show that priming cash concepts makes costs associated with donating time or money more salient in the decision context, thereby reducing willingness to give help and to receive it. However, priming credit card concepts makes the benefits of donation more salient.     

On the robustness of alternative rankings methodologies: Australian and New Zealand economics departments, 1988 to 2002

Theoretical considerations appear to support the conjecture that stock returns are positively related to growth in the long run. However, the empirical literature does not give unanimous support to the theory. Based on a stochastic general equilibrium model it is argued that the long-run relationship between stock returns and per capita income growth is ambiguous and depends on output volatility. Using a century of data for 20 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries it is shown that the relationship between stock returns and growth is positive over the period 1916–1951, in which output volatility was persistent. Outside this period no relationship between stock returns and growth is found. These findings are consistent with the predictions of the theoretical model.