Managing Disruptions in Decentralized Supply Chains with Endogenous Supply Process Reliability

Supply disruptions are all too common in supply chains. To mitigate delivery risk, buyers may either source from multiple suppliers or offer incentives to their preferred supplier to improve its process reliability. These incentives can be either direct (investment subsidy) or indirect (inflated order quantity). In this study, we present a series of models to highlight buyers’ and suppliers’ optimal parameter choices. Our base‐case model has deterministic buyer demand and two possibilities for the supplier yield outcomes: all‐or‐nothing supply or partial disruption. For the all‐or‐nothing model, we show that the buyer prefers to only use the subsidy option, which obviates the need to inflate order quantity. However, in the partial disruption model, both incentives—subsidy and order inflation—may be used at the same time. Although single sourcing provides greater indirect incentive to the selected supplier because that avoids order splitting, we show that the buyer may prefer the diversification strategy under certain circumstances. We also quantify the amount by which the wholesale price needs to be discounted (if at all) to ensure that dual sourcing strategy dominates sole sourcing. Finally, we extend the model to the case of stochastic demand. Structural properties of ordering/subsidy decisions are derived for the all‐or‐nothing model, and in contrast to the deterministic demand case, we establish that the buyer may increase use of subsidy and order quantity at the same time.     

EXACT DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN GENERAL TEST STATISTICS IN MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS

In this paper, exact solution of Wilks' type-B integral equation has been obtained in its most general form as a series of weighted gamma distributions. This general result then gives the distributions of many test statistics in multivariate analysis. In particular the distributions of Wilks' Λ, the sphericity test criterion, and Bartlett's test statistic, are derived in easily computable form.     

A developmental perspective of gambling behavior in children and adolescents

Although it has been determined that gambling is a popular activity amongst the young, there seems to be a lack of studies examining developmental differences in children's gambling behavior. This study examines developmental differences in children's blackjack gambling behavior. One hundred and four students (51 males; 53 females) from grades 4, 6, and 8 completed a questionnaire examining their gambling behavior in general and individually played a computerized blackjack game with the following data being recorded: percentage of accuracy, amounts of money bet, gross winnings, percentage of wins, number of hands played, and end balance. Findings revealed few developmental differences in prevalence and frequency of gambling behavior and performance on a blackjack task. Males were found to wager greater amounts of money and have larger gross winnings than females on the blackjack task. Furthermore, males were more likely to view gambling as involving both large amounts of skill and luck, thus suggesting an illusion of control for gambling activities. The results are discussed from a cognitive developmental perspective.This research was partially supported by a grant from the McGill University Social Science Computer Committee. The authors would like to thank the administration, staff, and students in T.H. Bowes, Prince Charles, Souvenir, Gerald McShane, Our Lady of Pompei, Pierrefond Comprehensive High School, and Western Laval High School, for their participation and cooperation in this study.This is a revision of a paper presented at the Ninth International Conference on Gambling and Risk-Taking, Las Vegas, 1994.     

A New Family of BAN Estimators for Polytomous Logistic Regression Models based on ϕ- Divergence Measures

In this paper we study polytomous logistic regression model and the asymptotic properties of the minimum ϕ-divergence estimators for this model. A simulation study is conducted to analyze the behavior of these estimators as function of the power-divergence measure ϕ_(λ) Research partially done when was visiting the Bowling Green State University as the Distinguished Lukacs Professor     

Locating social service centres using interactive graphics

The paper explores the feasibility of using interactive graphic based solution procedures in location problems with discrete choices. It compares solutions generated through interactive graphics with those generated through optimization for a problem context where service centres had to be located in rural India. The comparison demonstrates the feasibility of generating near optimal solutions for problems with a certain dimensionality. Broad features of the graphic software are described. The paper also highlights other advantages and limitations of the interactive graphic procedure.     

Estimating the probability of winning (losing) in a gambler's ruin problem with applications

In a classical gambler's ruin problem, the distribution of the number of games lost till ruin is considered, which we call the lost game distribution (LGD). Some applications of LGD in the theory of queues, in the theory of epidemic and in certain clustering and branching models are mentioned. The maximum likelihood estimation of LGD in the framework of modified power series distribution (MPSD), introduced by the author (1974), is studied. The variance and bias of the MLE are given and the actual mean of the MLE is obtained by discussing the negative moments of the MPSD in general. The minimum variance unbiased estimator of θ^k (k≥1) is obtained employing the technique developed by the author (1977) for the class of MPSD.     

Estimation of sensitivity level of personal interview survey questions

In this paper, an optional randomized response model is proposed. The estimator of the mean of the stigmatized variable based on the optional randomized response sampling is shown to be more efficient than the usual estimator of the mean based on randomized response technique method. In addition to estimating population mean and variance, it has been shown that the optional randomized response technique is useful in quantifying the sensitivity levels of the questions in the personal interview surveys. An estimator for the sensitivity level of a question is proposed and an empirical study is carried out to show the validity of the proposed estimation technique. We also propose a test for the sensitivity level of the stigmatized variable.     

Picturing Space for Lesbian Nonsexualities: Rethinking Sex-Normative Commitments through The Kids Are All Right (2010)

This article examines representations of lesbian nonsexuality in the film The Kids Are All Right and in responses to the film by feminist and queer scholars. In some moments, the film offers a limited endorsement of lesbian nonsexuality, placing pressure on the category lesbian to include nonsexuality and asexuality. However, in their responses to the film, many feminist and queer scholars rejected nonsexuality as an aspect of lesbian experience, placing pressure on the category lesbian to exclude nonsexual and asexual women. Asexual activism challenges scholars to question their sex-normative commitments and to keep the category lesbian open and flexible.