A class of asymmetrical orthogonal resolution-IV designs

The concept of d-resolvability of orthogonal arrays of strength (d+1) is introduced. This is used to construct orthogonal resolution-IV plans of the type $\text{nt·n·2}{}^{\mathrm{n(m?1)}}\text{mn}{}^2\text{t}$. These plans are minimal and a large number of these plans are new.     

Re-designing bank service systems for effective marketing

Financial institutions are undergoing fundamental changes due to increased competitiveness and greater consumer awareness. These changes call for a re-examination of their design strategies. This article discusses three strategies— namely, marketing, operations and organizational design. The discussion is based on empirical data collected by means of a survey of bank consumers.     

NONNULL DISTRIBUTION OF LIKELIHOOD RATIO CRITERION FOR TESTING MULTISAMPLE SPHERICITY IN THE COMPLEX CASE

In this paper, nonnull moments of the likelihood ratio statistic for testing multisample sphericity in the complex case have been derived in series involving zonal polynomials. The nonnull asymptotic distribution of the statistic is also derived for certain alternatives.     

Population estimates for Bangladesh: The use of a specific transitional population model

Summary The development of population in Bangladesh was affected by a succession of man-made and natural calamities, such as the Bengal Famine of 1943, refugee movements following the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, devastating floods and cyclones around 1970, and the military action during the war of liberation. Though there had been a tradition of census taking and vital registration in Bangladesh, as part of the Indian sub-continent, extending for over a century, vital registration was so deficient as to be almost valueless, and there were gross misstatements of age and under-enumeration in the censuses. In the census of 1941, on the other hand, political manoeuvring led to a substantial overcount of the population. In this paper, Bangladesh population trends are studied within the broader framework of the subcontinent, taking account of plausible differentials. A considerable element of uncertainty was introduced into growth trends as a result of variations in the completeness of census-taking and of unrecorded refugee and labour movements across open land borders. In this connection the substantial inflationary bias associated with techniques of population estimation using the dual record system is discussed. The application of stable population models is even less justified in Bangladesh with its history of declining mortality. A transitional age structure model was constructed on the basis of the information available on declining mortality and accelerating growth and the model was made even more specific by modifications which took care of the impact of recent calamities and of unrecorded migration. The population base of the census of 1961 was adjusted in accordance with this model. The local mortality age pattern was used in projecting the population by sex and age groups to the date at which the census was originally due to be taken in 1971, and to the date when it was actually taken in March 1974. The post-1970 calamities and their effect on mortality were ignored. The aggregate estimate of population of 72.9 million in March 1974 is slightly in excess of the census count (by about two per cent) reported provisionally as 71.3 million. The excess in our estimate could be accounted for by the losses due to cyclone and military action.     

An algorithm to dynamically adjust the number of Kanbans in stochastic processing times and variable demand environment

In a real-life environment, the just-in-time JIT system is subjected to various types of uncertainties such as stochastic processing times and variable demand. Since, JIT was only meant to operate in a deterministic environment, its performance is seriously affected by variations in processing times and demand. In this paper, a newly developed Kanban system is presented which uses an algorithm to dynamically and systematically manipulate the number of Kanbans in order to offset the blocking and starvation caused by the said uncertainties during a production cycle. The new system is termed a flexible Kanban system FKS . The steps of the algorithm are detailed and the effectiveness of FKS is demonstrated using an example model. For the example model, the solution procedure, results and a discussion are presented.     

Presidential Direct Action and Policy Continuity: The Case of U.S. International Population Policy*

Objectives. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the modern practice of unilateral presidential policy making in the area of U.S. international population policy. The analysis focuses on the implications of this practice in a constitutional system intended to limit and constrain direct presidential action in policy making. Methods. The authors conduct their analysis using a variety of qualitative sources, including leading studies on the topics of presidential direct action and U.S. international population policy, and government documents. Conclusions. Policy development in this area has been marked by dramatic back‐and‐forth shifts due to the modern practice of presidents making many decisions without legislative involvement. Although not the only policy area in which this practice has become the norm, the case study of U.S. international population policy reveals the pitfalls of deviating from the constitutional design of a system of balanced and constrained powers.     

A compound beta distribution with applications in finance

If X and Y are gamma distributed independent random variables then it is well known that the ratio X / (X + Y) has the beta distribution. In this note, the distribution of W = X / (X + Y) is considered when X and Y have the compound gamma distribution. We refer to the distribution of W as compound beta and describe an application to consumer price indices to show that compound beta is a better model than one based on the standard beta distribution. We derive various properties of W, including its probability density function, cumulative distribution function, hazard rate function and moments.