Liberalisation,competition and ownership in the presence of vertical relations

This contribution analyses a market with an upstream bottleneck monopoly and a downstream activity that may either be vertically integrated or separated. Separation always reduces the consumer surplus, and the total surplus unless there are large cost reductions. Downstream competition from a public or private network monopoly would crowd out other firms, also when public ownership is associated with more modest objectives than welfare-maximisation. A market is therefore less likely to remain a mixed oligopoly than without vertical relations. However, private firms would survive in a moderately welfare-improving mixed oligopoly with cross-subsidisation and access charges equal to marginal costs.

市场分割条件下的混合所有制经济竞争模型与规制策略

通过构建市场分割条件下的混合所有制经济竞争模型,本文对全国性国有企业在中国改革发展过程中的作用提供了新的解释。全国性国有企业在参与区域竞争的过程中,具备一种区域整合的功能:它面向全体市场的决策与分别面向各区域市场的决策等价,全社会总剩余最大化目标也可以分解为各区域社会剩余最大化的子目标之和,在其效率较高的情况下,将迫使地方企业改进成本或者退出市场,而只有当地方企业有足够高的效率的时候,全国性国有企业才会选择退出策略。国有企业事实上可以作为一种内部规制工具对市场分割的负面效应进行一定程度的制衡,在明确规制规则的条件下,我们可以通过动态调整企业目标函数以实现整体市场福利的最大化。     

A mixed behaviour equilibrium model with mode choice and its application to the endogenous demand of automated vehicles

This study develops a mixed behavioural equilibrium model with explicit consideration of mode choice (MBE-MC) in a transportation system where fully automated vehicles (AV) coexist with conventional human-driven vehicles (HV). For the mode choice, travellers select among three options, following a logit modal split: driving their private HV, or taking an AV mobility service provided by either a firm or the government. For the route choice, the HV drivers follow the random utility maximisation principle while central agents route the AV passengers following the Cournot Nash (firm agent) or Social Optimal (government agent) principles. We consider two types of travel costs (i.e. travel time and monetary travel cost) to characterise the new features (e.g. expanded link capacity and reduced value of time) of the mixed AV–HV transportation system. We model the MBE-MC problem in a combined mode–route choice framework and formulate it as a route-based variational inequality (VI) problem. We show the equivalence between the VI formulation and the MBE-MC problem, and the existence of a solution to the MBE-MC problem. Then, we modify a partial linearisation algorithm for solving the proposed model. Numerical results validate the equilibrium conditions and show the efficacy of the new model in capturing the features of the mixed AV–HV transportation system. The impact patterns of different parameters on (1) the network performance in terms of AV share and system cost and (2) on the solution efficiency are analysed.     

Mobile tax base as a global common

If countries anticipate international Bertrand competition in tax rates, they may expend effort that makes some of their taxpayers less mobile or increases the mobility of taxpayers elsewhere. Piecemeal evidence on what activities countries use is provided. Such activities are analyzed that interact with Bertrand tax competition if the size of the groups of loyal and nonloyal citizens or investors is endogenous. Further, the implications of tax harmonization and minimum taxes for these types of nonprice competition are considered. Home attachment reduces the intensity of tax competition, but generates a strategic disadvantage for the country that invests much in such home attachment. Harmonization of taxes and high minimum taxes can intensify countries’ investment in home attachment.      

Constructive deviance as a driver for performance in retail

A growing body of research is concerned with deviance in the workplace. While much research has explored negative forms of deviance, we examine constructive deviance: behaviour that deviates from salient norms and benefits the reference group. We empirically explore manifestations, determinants and performance outcomes of constructive deviance in standardised work processes. We do this through a mixed-methods study in bakery trading departments of an Australian retailer. We illustrate that constructive deviance occurs in these settings and show that some manifestations of constructive deviance improve organisational performance and pave the way for applying constructive deviance as a strategic tool in retail.     

Consumer willingness to pay for in-flight service and comfort levels: A choice experiment

In the competitive aviation market as a result of the emergence of low cost carriers, charter airlines have had to reconsider their approach to service provision. Specifically, the reduction in service and comfort levels offered by the low cost airlines provides charter carriers with an opportunity to differentiate their product based on the quality of the offering. To consider this strategic option we employ an on-line choice experiment to examine consumer choices with respect to the bundle of services on offer when deciding to purchase a flight. With these data we use the Bayesian methods to estimate a mixed logit specification. Our results reveal that in principle passengers are willing to pay a relatively large amount for enhanced service quality.     

A MIP model for locating slow-charging stations for electric vehicles in urban areas accounting for driver tours

In this paper we propose an improved mathematical model for locating EV charging stations. We consider the successive activities of the travelers, i.e., a person with two main stops during the day should charge the vehicle in just one of the parking spots, hence avoiding double counting the demand. The model is tested for the city of Coimbra (Portugal), where there is a network of nine stations. We conclude that our solution is better than the one that was implemented in reality, moreover we are able to conclude that demand transference has a rather significant impact on the solutions.     

论混合市场及其最优均衡

本从制度经济学角度，对市场的经济内涵作了创新性的分析，指出市场是“公”权市场和“私”权市场的混合体，在此基础上分析传统市场的形态和现代混合市场的发展方向，最后对混合市场的最优均衡作探索性的分析。     

The density of the time to ruin for a Sparre Andersen process with Erlang arrivals and exponential claims

We derive expressions for the density of the time to ruin given that ruin occurs in a Sparre Andersen model in which individual claim amounts are exponentially distributed and inter-arrival times are distributed as Erlang(n,?β). We provide numerical illustrations of finite time ruin probabilities, as well as illustrating features of the density functions.     

协同商务模式的选择机制研究

在社会专业化分工日趋明细和协作化程度不断提高的经济全球化背景下,企业间分工合作、相互依存已成为一种常态,企业参与协同电子商务是必然趋势,参与协同商务成功与否,很大程度上取决于协同商务模式的选择,因其直接涉及到企业的赢利能力。本文从协同商务模式运作机制的视角出发,分析了协同商务模式的类型和特征,即生产商主导供应链协同商务模式、零售商主导供应链协同商务模式、中间商主导供应链协同商务模式、信息服务型第三方协同商务模式和增值服务型第三方协同商务模式;总结出了企业选择协同模式的主要影响要素：企业类型、信息化水平、财力、管理能力、合作伙伴、信任关系、风险与收益;最后,从实际运用的角度出发,为企业成功选择协同商务模式提出了充分运用成熟协同商务模式、利用条件创立新模式、灵活采用混合模式、先小范围协同再逐步放开的建议。