A novel heuristic approach for solving aircraft landing problem with single runway

Nowadays, airlines administrations are more willing to utilize optimization tools to control air traffic due to considerable increases in volume of air transports. A challenging problem in the field of air traffic is how to optimally schedule landing time of aircrafts and assign them to different runways such that early and late landing costs are minimized. This problem is called aircraft landing problem (ALP). This paper proposes a novel decomposition based heuristic by solving two sub-problems for the ALP with single runway. In the first sub-problem, we apply the adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS) algorithm to find a sequence of aircrafts. The solution found in the first sub-problem will be sent to the second sub-problem, to check for the feasibility of the solution using CPLEX solver. A set of benchmark problem are taken from the OR library for the purpose of comparison with other existing approaches. The computational results exhibit that the proposed algorithm is capable of finding the best known optimal solution for all the instances.     

Adequacy,Accessibility, and Goodness of Data

ABSTRACT

The impact of information technology in the industrialized world is dramatic and the trend is continuing at an exponential rate with global implications. In contrast, the impact of information technology in developing countries is marginal, with only a few countries daring to travel on the information superhighway. One fundamental reason for the lag in the utilization of information technology in developing countries is the absence of basic data. This article explores the possible causes of this lack of basic data by examining the normative factors, cultural and exotic, embedded in the current practices of collecting, storing, and accessing data in Ghana, a developing country.

We also discuss the importance of goodness of data (i.e., accuracy, reliability, and validity of data) and the practices that compromise them. We then suggest ways by which information technology can be used to (1) address the goodness of data, (2) solve the problems associated with the current practices of recording, storing, and accessing data, and (3) enhance decision making in policy formulation and strategic planning.     

National information security policy and its implementation: A case study in Taiwan

Cyberspace is no longer safe. From business organizations to countries, the requirements of information security and assurance have become one of the most important functions to ensure continued operations. The goal of this study is twofold. First, we introduce the information security policy of the Taiwanese government and its current status. Then we present a successful example of governmental institute that self-adopted the information security management system (ISMS), British Standard 7799 (ISO27001). The results of this research indicate that past successful experiences, availability of documents, cost constraints, organization learning and organizational culture are important motivations of self-implementation of ISMS. Past experience of other standards, level of documentation and standardization, degree of understanding the clauses, procedures of risk management, top management support, culture of organization, existing auditing infrastructure, awareness of information security, education and compatibility with the existing procedures are the key factors of successful self-implementation of ISMS.     

Monetary policy for rationally inattentive economies with staggered price setting

The paper examines the optimal monetary policy when firms are constrained by information processing capability and infrequent price adjustments. Firms' information processing limit gives rise to imperfect knowledge about macroeconomic aggregates and endogenous information learning contingent on the monetary policy. Staggered price setting introduces the observed price duration and additional policy tradeoffs resulting from the interactions between nominal rigidities and imperfect information processing. The integrated model implies an optimal policy that commits to complete price stabilization in response to natural rate shocks but not in response to markup shocks. In the presence of markup shocks, it is optimal for the central bank to focus on price stabilization in the initial periods following markup shocks and shifts the emphasis to output gap stabilization later. Moreover, larger information capacity, stronger complementarities and more persistent shocks require more aggressive price stabilization in the short-run.     

Don’t worry,be happy? Happiness and reemployment

This study investigates the effect of unemployed individuals’ happiness on their future labor market outcomes. It therefore acknowledges the possibility that happiness could also be a driver of behavior and influence life's outcomes. I use rich survey data from 2007 to 2009 of entrants into unemployment in Germany (the IZA Evaluation Dataset S) to calculate residual happiness, which displays higher (or lower) satisfaction levels than would be predicted by a number of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. I find a statistically significant inverted U-shaped effect of residual happiness on an unemployed individual's future reemployment probability and reentry wage, even after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, labor market histories and future job prospects. Further investigation offers three mechanisms that have not been previously shown in this context: (a) happiness is mainly a predictor for exit into self-employment rather than regular employment; (b) only male unemployed experience an effect of happiness on reemployment; and (c) the concept of locus of control and the personality traits of neuroticism and extraversion are main drivers of the baseline effect on regular reemployment and are able to explain the effect on reemployment for males.     

Internet Appreciation in Nigerian Business Organizations

ABSTRACT

Internet technology is one of the approaches used by business organizations to execute their business activities. The present research investigated the degree of Internet appreciation in Nigerian companies, factors influencing such appreciation, and the associated efficacy of Internet appreciation. It was found that e-mail was the most used aspect of the Internet system in Nigerian companies. Relatively, it was found that Nigerian business organizations used the Internet system mostly for business communication. The low level of Internet education proved to be the most influencing factor in Internet appreciation in Nigeria companies. These findings were discussed with respect to extant literature and pieces of empirical and anecdotal evidence. Management and policy recommendations were made and areas for future research suggested.     

Endogenous search,price dispersion,and welfare

This paper studies the welfare cost of inflation in a frictional monetary economy with endogenous consumer search. Equilibrium entails price dispersion, where sellers compete for buyers by posting prices. We identify three channels through which inflation affects welfare. The real balance channel is the source of welfare loss. Its interaction with the price posting channel generates a welfare cost larger than Lucas (2000). The search channel reduces the welfare cost by more than one half through general equilibrium effect. The aggregate effect of these three channels on welfare is non-monotonic. Additionally, the welfare cost of inflation fluctuations is negligible.     

我国西部重工业城市企业环境会计信息披露调查研究——石嘴山市案例分析

本文以我国西部重工业城市—石嘴山市为案例,对当地企业的环境负债、环境成本费用和环境收入等进行了调查,结果发现有关业务的处理方法不规范,已经影响到了企业环境会计信息的有用性和信息使用者的科学决策。建议要加大充分利用市场机制来引导企业披露环境会计信息的力度。     

Information processing and touring planning theory

Tourists vary greatly in the extent to which they choose elements of their vacation prior to the commencement of the vacation. For a touring vacation, the extent to which a specific set of locations to visit has been planned prior to departure will vary between individuals. This study presents a structural model of pre-vacation decision-making for a touring vacation. The model demonstrates pre-vacation decision-making as comprising three distinct activities – information search, vacation plans, and vacation bookings – and incorporates characteristics of the vacation and characteristics of the tourist that influence the amounts and types of each of these activities undertaken.     

Garbling of signals and outcome equivalence

In a game with incomplete information players receive stochastic signals about the state of nature. The distribution of the signals given the state of nature is determined by the information structure. Different information structures may induce different equilibria.Two information structures are equivalent from the perspective of a modeler, if they induce the same equilibrium outcomes. We characterize the situations in which two information structures are equivalent in terms of natural transformations, called garblings, from one structure to another. We study the notion of ‘being equivalent to’ in relation with three equilibrium concepts: Nash equilibrium, agent normal-form correlated equilibrium and the belief invariant Bayesian solution.