Maximum efforts in contests with asymmetric valuations

Efforts may be reduced when players with different valuations participate in a contest. This paper considers the problem of designing a contest to elicit maximum aggregate effort from players with asymmetric valuations. Optimal designs for different classes of contest technologies are computed and characterized. A value weighted contest is optimal in the concave case. In the unconstrained case, the optimal contest is equivalent to a first price all-pay auction with a reserve price. The optimal design discounts the effort of the high valuation player in order to induce him to compete vigorously.     

The Distributional Impact of Selected Commonwealth Outlays and Taxes and Alternative Commonwealth Grant Allocation Mechanisms

This article examines the redistributive impact of Commonwealth outlays and taxes (including outlays directed through and to the States)and two possible alternative systems of distributing Commonwealth funding amongst the States.     

Behavioral portfolio selection and optimization: an application to international stocks

The behavioral approach of decision making has emerged as a diversified solution in the presence of risk and uncertainty. Using the popular cumulative prospect theory as an objective function for portfolio selection, this study implements the classical mean–variance model to compare the portfolio performance of high behavioral stocks with that of stocks with lower behavioral values. Based on a sample of 37 international stocks over the period from October 1998 to November 2017, empirical results from D-vine pair copula GARCH-GEV indicate that the portfolio of high behavioral prospect stocks outperforms the portfolio of stocks with low behavioral scores. This finding may suggest that portfolios with high behavioral values coincide with rational efficiency sets.     

Toward a more practical approach to evaluating programs: The Multi‐Objective Realization approach

Emerging trends indicate that programs are being used to deliver benefits that may not be fully harnessed from single sets of uncoordinated projects. To support this movement, it is essential to have suitable measurement frameworks to assess the contribution of these activities and supply decision makers with valuable data on whether their objectives are being realized. This paper introduces the Multi‐Objective Realization Method (MORE) to help measure the strategic contributions of programs. The main principles of MORE underline the importance of a formal strategy to elicit and develop program objectives and to frame those objectives within defined measurement dimensions.     

Designing an optimal contest

The paper brings a mechanism design perspective to the study of contests. We consider the problem of selecting a contest success function when the contest designer may also value the prize. We show that any equilibrium outcome that can be achieved by a concave increasing contest success function can be replicated by a linear contest success function. An expected utility maximizing designer should employ a linear homogeneous contest success function. We explicitly derive the optimal contest for a risk-neutral designer and present comparative statics results. Tullock's contest is optimal only when the designer's valuation for the prize is low.     

CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE INTERNET‐ENABLED LOGISTICS SUPPLY CHAIN: WEBSITE DESIGN ANTECEDENTS AND LOYALTY EFFECTS

This article extends the existing research on logistics customer service‐loyalty relationships to the online logistics supply chain environment by examining potential website determinants of logistics customer service quality. A structural equation analysis of 373 online shopping transactions suggests that perceived quality of all logistics customer service activities (perceived cycle time, in‐stock availability, and customer responsiveness) varies inversely with: (1) perceived ease of use, and (2) content vividness of the website; and positively with product information content. However, only retailer customer responsiveness assessment was found to have any significant influence on consumer intended loyalty behavior in Internet‐enabled supplies chains.     

Integrated Strategy Approach for Poverty Alleviation: A Paramount Priority for Africa

Abstract: This paper examines the nature and extent of poverty in Africa. It recognizes that poverty in the region is essentially a rural phenomenon and women are disproportionately affected. The paper argues for an integrated strategy approach to poverty alleviation in Africa which deals with the problem of poverty uprooting at three levels: 1) on those which can be addressed by an effective long term strategy of rapid and broad based economic growth; 2) those which require active population and human resource development policy; 3) and those which need special programs to uproot poverty Résumé: Ce document examine la nature et la portée de la pauvreté en Afrique. Il reconnait que la pauvreté est essentiellement dans la région un phénomène rural et les femmes sont disproportionnellement touchées. Le document plaide en faveur d'une approche de stratégic intégrée de la lutte contre la pauvreté en Afrique qui traite des problèmes d'eradication de la pauvretéà trois niveaux: 1) ceux qu'on peut résoudre par une stratégic efficace à long terme de croissance économique rapide et à base étendue; 2) ceux qui exigent une politique active de developpement de la population et des ressources humaines; 3) ceux qui ont besoin de programmes spéciaux pour extirper la pauvreté.     

How Aid Tying Can Impose Additional Cost on Aid Recipients: Evidence on Ghana

Abstract: This study investigates the prices of tied foreign aid imports by estimating the price differentials between tied aid imports and non‐aid imports from bilateral sources to Ghana. The study finds a significant mark‐up on the prices of tied aid imports relative to non‐aid imports, which translates into substantial cost to Ghana. Several reasons, both in Ghana and in the donor countries, could be found for the estimated price differentials. Ghana needs to take steps to improve its investment climate, as a way of reducing investment risk, which in turn will enhance the confidence of export financiers to reduce the incentive to mark up prices of tied commodities. On the part of donor countries, there may be need to examine the market for the supply of aided commodities towards the liberalization of such markets. It is suggested that although the higher costs on tied imports may be a necessary price Ghana had to pay to obtain aid, the associated cost provides a case for the cancellation of the bilateral aid debt to Ghana.     

An empirical and ethical analysis of factors motivating managers' merger decisions

This paper examines the role of managerial self-interest in the merger market. It looks at factors influencing managers' merger decisions by analyzing managerial expense preference factors on cross-sectional data employing non-parametric statistical methods. The same factors are examined for acquiring, acquired, and merging firms, and control groups used in each case. The results support the authors' contention that managerial discretion is a significant motivating factor for mergers. The changes in expense preference factors indicate management decisions which provide conditions allowing management to indulge in management preferred expenditures, while reducing risk to their career. The authors then provide a moral/philosophic framework of ethical analysis for examining manager's merger decisions, using teleological and deontological theories. They conclude that merger decisions motivated or influenced by self-interest are unethical and, in the process, provide managers facing a merger decision with a framework for making an ethical decision.Dr. Francis Achampong is a Professor of Business Law and Insurance at Norfolk State University, in Norfolk, Virginia. He is licensed to practice law in New York and Virginia. He has published in journals such as theJournal of Risk and Insurance, theInternational and Comparative Law Quarterly, Dickinson Law Review, and theAkron Law Review.Dr. Wold Zemedkun is an Associate Professor of Finance at Norfolk State University, In Norfolk, Virginia. He has published in journals such as theJournal of Business Strategies, theAkron Business and Economic Review,, theJournal of Financial Education, and theAtlantic Economic Journal.