AI-chatbots on the services frontline addressing the challenges and opportunities of agency

AI-chatbots as frontline agents promise innovative opportunities for shaping service offerings that benefit customers and retailers. Examining current practice through the lens of agency, as defined by Social Cognitive Theory, we present a 3-level classification of AI-chatbot design (anthropomorphic role, appearance and interactivity) and examine how the combination of these three aspects of chatbot design impacts on the complementarities of agency. Recognizing current implementation challenges, we advance that the complementarities of agency at each level are the lynchpin mechanism that translates AI-chatbot design into service relevant outcomes. We develop a research agenda focused on the emotion interface, resolution of the proxy agency dilemma and development of collective agency to support the implementation of AI-chatbots as frontline service agents.     

Tick size and market quality: Simulations based on agent‐based artificial stock markets

This paper investigates the way that minimum tick size affects market quality based on an agent‐based artificial stock market. Our results indicate that stepwise and combination systems can promote market quality in certain aspects, compared with a uniform system. A minimal combination system performed the best to improve market quality. This is the first study to analyse tick size systems that remain at the theory stage and compare four types of system under the same experimental environment. The results suggests that a minimal combination system could be considered a new direction for market policy reform to improve market quality.     

Budget impact analysis of secukinumab versus adalimumab in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis

Background: Biologic treatments have enhanced the treatment outcomes of patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Until recently, TNF-alpha-inhibitors have been the only biologics approved for the treatment of active AS. The objective of this study was to assess the potential financial impact of the first non-TNF-alpha biologic secukinumab (fully human IL-17A-inhibitor) vs adalimumab (TNF-alpha-inhibitor) in the treatment of AS in Finland.

Materials and methods: In this model-based budget impact analysis, patients were treated either with secukinumab (150?mg) or adalimumab (40?mg). The number of patients and market share of different biologics were based on national reimbursement registry data. Adalimumab was the most commonly used biologic treatment for AS, and in the base case analysis all adalimumab patients are assumed to switch to secukinumab. Response rates were based on a matching-adjusted indirect comparison between secukinumab and adalimumab. Patients not achieving response were switched to another biologic treatment.

Results: Treating AS patients with secukinumab instead of adalimumab leads to potential savings of 18.2 million euros within a 5-year time period. The total costs within the follow-up time were 59.5 million euros and 77.7 million euros with and without secukinumab, respectively. According to sensitivity analyses, a higher adoption rate of secukinumab corresponds to higher potential savings.

Conclusions: Secukinumab is a cost-saving treatment option compared with adalimumab in the treatment of AS in Finland. More patients could be treated with a biologic by allocating resources more efficiently.     

Existence of solutions to principal–agent problems with adverse selection under minimal assumptions

We prove an existence result for the principal–agent problem with adverse selection under general assumptions on preferences and allocation spaces. Instead of assuming that the allocation space is finite-dimensional or compact, we consider a more general coercivity condition which takes into account the principal’s cost and the agents’ preferences. Our existence proof is simple and flexible enough to adapt to partial participation models as well as to the case of type-dependent budget constraints.     

铁路运输代理业向第三方物流业务方向发展的思考

从铁路运输代理业的实际入手,探讨了物流业是运输代理业的发展方向的课题。介绍了物流的概念、第三方物流的定义、特点、优势及国内外第三方物流发展的现状。通过对运输代理概念、特点、功能的阐述,提出第三方物流是铁路运输代理的发展方向,并提出了铁路运输代理业向第三方物流业发展的必要性、有利条件和基本构想。     

企业规模扩张的战略选择:基于成本动因分析

随着市场经济的发展,客观上需要企业锐意改革,不断进取,才能保证企业在日益激烈的市场竞争中取得竞争优势,而取得竞争优势的重要途径之一便是规模扩张。而企业规模则是一个重要的结构性动因,企业规模的扩张程度将引起结构成本的变动。本文主要从成本动因的角度,为投资者提供规模扩张的有效方式和途径,并分析了成本变动的原因。     

负债代理成本影响因素实证分析——来自我国上市公司的证据

本文以我国上市公司面板数据及横截面数据为基础,运用线性回归分析对影响公司负债代理成本的因素进行了实证检验。结果发现,负债代理成本与债务期限结构、公司规模、财务灵活性及盈利能力的变化显著负相关;与公司未来成长性、资产期限、负债规模的变化显著正相关。     

The Value of Precontract Information About an Agent's Ability in the Presence of Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection

We analyze the expected value of information about an agent's type in the presence of moral hazard and adverse selection. Information about the agent's type enables the principal to sort/screen agents of different types. The value of the information decreases in the variability of output and the agent's risk aversion, two factors that are typically associated with the severity of the moral hazard problem. However, the value of the information about agent type first increases but ultimately decreases in the severity of adverse selection. The decrease comes about because the means available to the principal to induce effort—namely, the pay–performance sensitivity—must also be used to sort/screen agents, and these two goals conflict. This decline in value occurs despite the monotonically increasing importance of the information in determining the principal's expected profits. Further, we show that the peak value of information occurs at a predictable level of adverse selection. These results imply that over some range, the importance of the information will be increasing, and the value of the information will be simultaneously decreasing, in the severity of adverse selection.     

基于主体建模方法及其在宏观经济学中的应用

本文介绍了一种新型宏观经济学研究范式———基于主体建模方法。与主流的动态随机一般均衡模型相比,基于主体建模方法能更好地描述实际生活中经济主体的有限理性和适应性预期的行为,同时它还可以模拟复杂性系统中的异质性主体之间的交互作用,从而研究经济系统的演化过程及其宏观特征的“涌现”过程。此外,本文还介绍了基于主题建模方法在货币政策和经济波动理论中的应用：在政策分析中,基于主题建模方法能大量模拟市场参与者决策的“动物精神”和“羊群效应”,即使没有外部冲击,也可能形成金融危机等非均衡经济现象。随着计算机水平的发展,基于主题建模方法必将成为经济学分析的一个有力的新工具。     

代理人产出影响因素调查分析

本文作者在进行针对代理人的问卷调查的基础上,对影响代理人产出的各个影响因素进行了统计分析,并进一步与历史调查结论进行比较,讨论影响代理人产出的各个影响因素及其变化,以及这些调查数据分析结论对保险个人代理人的招聘工作的理论借鉴。