Does obligational contracting lead to better performance? A comparison of global carmakers’ supply chain management approaches in Australia

Supply chain management (SCM) has been recognised as key to automobile manufacturers’ (‘buyers’) competitive advantage. However, the performance implication of two different approaches towards SCM, obligational contracting (OCR) vs. arm’s length contracting (ACR), remains inconclusive in the current literature. By focusing on examining how multiple global automobile manufacturers’ SCM practices result in different performance outcomes in the one-country setting of Australia, we are able to ascertain the direct impact of SCM approaches on buyers’ performance. We also provide detailed analysis on the specific influence of each distinguishing feature of the OCR/ACR approaches on different aspects of performance. Through a more nuanced investigation of the links between SCM approaches and automobile manufacturers’ performance at the firm level, this research contributes to a better understanding of the topic with managerially applicable insights.     

七大城市群创新能力的区域差距及其分布动态演进

研究目标：京津冀、长三角、珠三角、长江中游、成渝、中原以及哈长城市群创新能力的区域差距及其时空动态演进。研究方法：运用Dagum基尼系数、Kernel密度估计、空间Markov链进行实证研究。研究发现：七大城市群创新能力空间差距呈缩小趋势但依然显著,区域间差距是总体差距的主要来源;其创新能力分布呈不同的极化现象与趋势;其创新能力发展具有显著的空间依赖性,邻域创新环境的优劣对周边城市创新水平的向上转移产生非同步、差异化影响。研究创新：挖掘七大城市群创新能力区域差距来源,并通过科学揭示其时空演变规律为城市群创新差距提供空间解释。研究价值：对缩小城市群创新能力区域差距,构建创新驱动的区域经济发展支撑点具有重要的理论和现实意义。     

Kuhn’s Theorem for extensive form Ellsberg games

We propose the notions of mixed and behavioral Ellsberg strategies for extensive form games and prove that these strategies are outcome-equivalent if and only if mixed Ellsberg strategies satisfy a certain rectangularity condition. In addition, we show that not only the profile of Ellsberg strategies must be appropriately chosen but also the extensive form must satisfy further restrictions beyond those implied by perfect recall in order to ensure that each player will respect his ex ante strategy choice with the evolution of play.     

山东省高职院校教师企业实践锻炼现状调查分析

职业院校教师到企业实践锻炼是适应高职教育发展的需要,是构建"双师型"教师队伍的重要途径。本文根据对山东省50余所高职院校教师和40余家企业的调查情况,从学校鼓励政策、教师企业锻炼管理情况和效果以及企业对教师实践的态度等方面进行了分析,较全面的反映了山东省高职院校教师企业实践锻炼的现状,指出了存在的问题。     

Permit markets, market power, and the trade-off between efficiency and revenue raising

This paper focuses on an emissions permit market dominated by one firm and with a government concerned about social efficiency and permits revenue. In this setting, it is shown that the dominant firm's market power reduces the opportunities for the government to raise non-distortionary revenue from permits without loss of consumer surplus. Since the government's objectives are thus hampered in auctioning permits, the dominant firm should be excluded from the auction. Specifically, the regulator should sell permits directly, through bilateral negotiation, to the dominant firm, and auction off the remaining permits to the fringe firms.     

河南省粮食应急供应链响应能力的理论分析

粮食应急供应链的主要功能是为应对自然灾害和突发事件提供有力的粮食物资保证。河南省是中国重要的粮食主产区之一,在保障国家安全方面具有不可替代的特殊地位,这必然要建立、健全粮食应急供应链。研究粮食应急供应链体系的建设问题,对于提高政府危机管理的水平,增强应对自然灾害和突发事件的能力,具有重要而深远的意义。     

Assessing market dominance

We propose a new measure to assess market dominance. Contrary to concentration measures such as the Herfindahl–Hirschman index that characterizes the concentration of an industry, our dominance measure suggests an approach that classifies when an individual firm has a dominant position. In our measure, the criterion for dominance is relaxed as the intensity of existing competition increases or as entry barriers are lowered. We apply the dominance measure to a number of well-known competition cases.     

A bibliometric study of financial risk literature: a historic approach

This study probes into the development of financial risk literatures through the perspective of bibliometrics. The research samples were collected from the relevant international financial business bibliographic databases. A total of 2727 entries in a span of 29 years from 1970 to 2009 were collected and the results are summarized as follows: (1) the financial risk literatures under influence of the financial turmoil in Asia achieved substantial growth from 1997 to 1998 and an exponential growth curve during the global financial turmoil from 2007 to 2009; (2) the literatures were mainly journals and articles written in English; (3) the United States ranked first in sector productivity; (4) the author productivity of the financial risks was consistent with the Lotka's Law and (5) the document types of the financial risk literatures were mostly dissertation papers on economics and business.     

Asymmetries and interdependencies in time use between Italian parents

In recent decades, changes in parents’ attitudes towards the importance of spending time with children to optimize their future behaviour and cognitive development have greatly affected patterns of time allocation among both working and nonworking parents in all developed countries. We compare the two waves of the Italian Time Use dataset (1988 and 2002) to analyse how family time allocation changed over time in a country that was undergoing a marked increase in female employment rate and a continuous decline in total fertility rate. We focus especially on how parents’ time with their children depends on their employment status and household characteristics. Using a simultaneous sequential approach, we consider links among the different time uses of individuals and correlations with spouses’ decisions. We find that wives’ time at work time strongly influences the time spent by both spouses with their children in 2002, but not in 1988. Fathers were much more involved in childcare and rearing in 2002 than in 1988. In general, as women's work time increased, substitutes for their childcare time were found within the household (fathers or other co-resident adults).     

Ugo Broggi: a precursor in mathematical economics

The concern for the existence of solution to the Walras - Cassel model is usually dated at the beginning of the 1930s, and one decade later the proof of existence of utility function. Ugo Broggi, however, posed both issues in 1923 and 1919, respectively, and even hinted at modern ways of solving them. He was an outstanding mathematician, a former disciple of David Hilbert and collaborator with the Giornale degli Economisti. Broggi's achievements are also linked to a critical reading of Osorio's treatise on Paretian economics.