Appropriate assumption on cross-hauling national input–output table regionalization

Input–output tables are useful for regional economic analyses. Although scholars often regionalize national input–output tables, cost-related issues make surveying regional trade flow difficult; hence, non-survey approaches are implemented instead. While location quotient (LQ) approaches have been used widely, they ignore cross-hauling in interregional trade. Therefore, alternative non-survey approaches with different assumptions on cross-hauling are used, such as cross-hauling depends on regional size and cross-hauling is proportional to its potential determined by output or demand. This study concludes that the most appropriate assumption, as per the relative performance of non-survey approaches, is that cross-hauling is in proportion to trade volume.     

COMMODITY CONTENT IN A GENERAL INPUT–OUTPUT MODEL

This technical paper provides a definition of ‘commodity content’ in extended von Neumann–Morishima models of production. Our definition admits as special cases the classical definition of ‘labour values’ in Leontief models, as well as Morishima's definition of ‘optimal values’ in a von Neumann model. Proper joint production, heterogeneous labour, durable consumption goods, household activities and disposal processes are all allowed for. We also propose a tentative mathematical criterion for defining bads and for distinguishing between unskilled and skilled labour.     

Technical Changes and the Rate of Profit in Models with Joint Production and Externalities: A Duality Approach

This paper generalizes a result due to Okishio: the rate of profit increases as a result of cost reducing technical changes. The generalization is carried out first in a model of joint production which allows for new processes and commodities to be introduced or some of the old ones to be discarded. Then we consider nonlinear models incorporating external and internal (dis)economies     

The Effect of "Front-Loading" Problem-Solving on Product Development Performance

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the link between problem‐solving capabilities and product development performance. In this article, the authors apply a problem‐solving perspective to the management of product development and suggest how shifting the identification and solving of problems—a concept that they define as front‐loading—can reduce development time and cost and thus free up resources to be more innovative in the marketplace. The authors develop a framework of front‐loading problem‐solving and present related examples and case evidence from development practice. These examples include Boeing's and Chrysler's experience with the use of “digital mock‐ups” to identify interference problems that are very costly to solve if identified further downstream—sometimes as late as during or—after first full‐scale assembly. In the article, the authors propose that front‐loading can be achieved using a number of different approaches, two of which are discussed in detail: (1) project‐to‐project knowledge transfer—leverage previous projects by transferring problem and solution‐specific information to new projects; and (2) rapid problem‐solving—leverage advanced technologies and methods to increase the overall rate at which development problems are identified and solved. Methods for improving project‐to‐project knowledge transfer include the effective use of “postmortems,” which are records of post‐project learning and thus can be instrumental in carrying forward the knowledge from current and past projects. As the article suggests, rapid problem‐solving can be achieved by optimally combining new technologies (such as computer simulation) that allow for faster problem‐solving cycles with traditional technologies (such as late stage prototypes), which usually provide higher fidelity. A field study of front‐loading at Toyota Motor Corporation shows how a systematic effort to front‐load its development process has, in effect, shifted problem‐identification and problem‐solving to earlier stages of product development. They conclude the article with a discussion of other approaches to front‐load problem‐solving in product development and propose how a problem‐solving perspective can help managers to build capabilities for higher development performance.     

A REFUTATION OF THE COMMODITY EXPLOITATION THEOREM

This note is to show that the generalized commodity exploitation theorem put forward by Bowles and Gintis and Roemer is nothing but an alternative form of the Hawkins–Simon condition for given technical data, and that it has nothing to do with exploitation. That is, the Hawkins–Simon condition means a mere possibility of an economic system to produce a surplus in each commodity, and as such does not guarantee the existence of positive profits. To consider exploitation or the existence of positive profits, we need to introduce prices at which unequal exchanges may be carried out.     

A NON‐SUBSTITUTION THEOREM WITH NON‐CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE AND EXTERNALITIES

An input–output model with non‐constant returns to scale and externalities is presented, and it is shown that in this model the non‐substitution theorem is still valid. More precisely, the quantity side of the theorem, i.e. the proposition on efficiency, remains valid, while there can be no equilibrium prices independent of final demand.     

Expected Log-Utility Maximization Under Incomplete Information and with Cox-Process Observations

We consider the portfolio optimization problem for the criterion of maximization of expected terminal log-utility. The underlying market model is a regime-switching diffusion model where the regime is determined by an unobservable factor process forming a finite state Markov process. The main novelty is due to the fact that prices are observed and the portfolio is rebalanced only at random times corresponding to a Cox process where the intensity is driven by the unobserved Markovian factor process as well. This leads to a more realistic modeling for many practical situations, like in markets with liquidity restrictions; on the other hand it considerably complicates the problem to the point that traditional methodologies cannot be directly applied. The approach presented here is specific to the log-utility. For power utilities a different approach is presented in the companion paper (Fujimoto et al. in Appl Math Optim 67(1):33–72, 2013).