Multiobjective Prioritization Methodology and Decision Support System for Evaluating Inventory Enhancement Strategies for Disrupted Interdependent Sectors

Disruptions in the production of commodities and services resulting from disasters influence the vital functions of infrastructure and economic sectors within a region. The interdependencies inherent among these sectors trigger the faster propagation of disaster consequences that are often associated with a wider range of inoperability and amplified losses. This article evaluates the impact of inventory‐enhanced policies for disrupted interdependent sectors to improve the disaster preparedness capability of dynamic inoperability input‐output models (DIIM). In this article, we develop the dynamic cross‐prioritization plot (DCPP)—a prioritization methodology capable of identifying and dynamically updating the critical sectors based on preference assignments to different objectives. The DCPP integrates the risk assessment metrics (e.g., economic loss and inoperability), which are independently analyzed in the DIIM. We develop a computer‐based DCPP tool to determine the priority for inventory enhancement with user preference and resource availability as new dimensions. A baseline inventory case for the state of Virginia revealed a high concentration of (i) manufacturing sectors under the inoperability objective and (ii) service sectors under the economic loss objective. Simulation of enhanced inventory policies for selected critical manufacturing sectors has reduced the recovery period by approximately four days and the expected total economic loss by $33 million. Although the article focuses on enhancing inventory levels in manufacturing sectors, complementary analysis is recommended to manage the resilience of the service sectors. The flexibility of the proposed DCPP as a decision support tool can also be extended to accommodate analysis in other regions and disaster scenarios.     

Coastal Adaptation Planning in Fairbourne,Wales: lessons for Climate Change Adaptation

ABSTRACT

Adaptation to climate change is emerging as a central objective and policy frame for coastal communities. This paper examines recent climate change adaptation efforts in the UK, centring on the case of Fairbourne, Wales. The village is facing the long-term prospect of flooding and inundation due to the impacts of sea level rise. The recent Shoreline Management Plan for the area has recommended realignment of the coast and eventual decommissioning of Fairbourne. The paper draws on a qualitative research methodology of interviews, policy review and observation to narrate the case and provide key insights and lessons for planners working in environmentally vulnerable coastal settings and managing climate adaptation processes.     

Benefits of Hybrid Lateral Transshipments in Multi‐Item Inventory Systems under Periodic Replenishment

Lateral transshipments are a method of responding to shortages of stock in a network of inventory‐holding locations. Conventional reactive approaches only seek to meet immediate shortages. The study proposes hybrid transshipments which exploit economies of scale by moving additional stock between locations to prevent future shortages in addition to meeting immediate ones. The setting considered is motivated by retailers who operate networks of outlets supplying car parts via a system of periodic replenishment. It is novel in allowing non‐stationary stochastic demand and general patterns of dependence between multiple item types. The generality of our work makes it widely applicable. We develop an easy‐to‐compute quasi‐myopic heuristic for determining how hybrid transshipments should be made. We obtain simple characterizations of the heuristic and demonstrate its strong cost performance in both small and large networks in an extensive numerical study.     

Inventory‐Based Dynamic Pricing with Costly Price Adjustment

We study an average‐cost stochastic inventory control problem in which the firm can replenish inventory and adjust the price at anytime. We establish the optimality to change the price from low to high in each replenishment cycle as inventory is depleted. With costly price adjustment, scale economies of inventory replenishment are reflected in the cycle time instead of lot size—An increased fixed ordering cost leads to an extended replenishment cycle but does not necessarily increase the order quantity. A reduced marginal cost of ordering calls for an increased order quantity, as well as speeding up product selling within a cycle. We derive useful properties of the profit function that allows for reducing computational complexity of the problem. For systems requiring short replenishment cycles, the optimal solution can be easily computed by applying these properties. For systems requiring long replenishment cycles, we further consider a relaxed problem that is computational tractable. Under this relaxation, the sum of fixed ordering cost and price adjustment cost is equal to (greater than, less than) the total inventory holding cost within a replenishment cycle when the inventory holding cost is linear (convex, concave) in the stock level. Moreover, under the optimal solution, the time‐average profit is the same across all price segments when the inventory holding cost is accounted properly. Through a numerical study, we demonstrate that inventory‐based dynamic pricing can lead to significant profit improvement compared with static pricing and limited price adjustment can yield a benefit that is close to unlimited price adjustment. To be able to enjoy the benefit of dynamic pricing, however, it is important to appropriately choose inventory levels at which the price is revised.     

中国省际公共资本存量估算:概念、框架与指标构建

文章通过合理界定公共资本内涵及统计范围,运用资产价值公式推导资产折旧率的时间序列数据,基于永续盘存法、“年龄—效率”函数谨慎测算1985-2014年中国省际公共资本存量和生产性公共资本存量。结果表明,与公共资本存量相比,生产性公共资本存量通过综合考虑资产退役及效率损失,更能反映实际服务于生产过程的公共资本规模。总体上,中国生产性公共资本存量自1993年以来增速明显加快,金融危机时期积极财政政策的实施进一步推动公共资本存量的迅速积累;区域上,生产性公共资本存量由东向西呈阶梯式分布,沿海地区公共资本存量处于领先水平,而大西北地区的公共投资呈严重不足状态。     

农村公共政策执行中监督强化的底层逻辑

村镇两级是政策执行的直接推动者,也是政策效果自下而上反馈的第一个环节,这一反馈的真实性直接影响到政策监督的有效性。在发达地区富人治村的背景下,村干部对体制及体制资源的依赖性减弱,镇村两级的干部从偏闭合型关系向非闭合型关系转变。此外,基层政权深度嵌入村庄：以联村干部等为主的基层组织建设作为组织基础,在镇村之间有效化解信息不对称等的难题;通过对联村干部进行目标责任考核,增加其推动政策落实的压力和动力。从而形成以基层政权深度嵌入村庄为基础的非闭合型乡村关系,这种乡村关系构成了政策监督强化的底层逻辑。     

汉语方言田野调查与音韵学

从高本汉最早的著作开始就把中国音韵学和方言田野调查紧密地结合起来。在中古音的构拟和间接的上古音研究方面,方言资料是相当重要的角色。早期的方言田野调查以字音为主,后来认识到俗传词才是探索方言历史的关键。     

上市公司存货计量方法选择与决策相关性分析

通过分析新存货准则中引入的存货计量属性,即历史成本计量、公允价值计量、可变现净值和未来现金流量的现值的本质特征,分析了其与决策的相关性,并通过对我国部分上市公司存货计价方法选择的深层分析,揭示了决策相关性在存货计价方法应用中所传递的信息和表达的目的。     

航空客运收益管理的结构模型

本文分析了收益管理决策目标的组成要素以及内外主要因素;讨论了容量、价格和销售数量三个决策变量与市场需求要素之间的关系;具体地提出了达到收益管理目标可以采用的两条降低成本的途径和五种提高收入的基本方式;从系统的角度提出了集成性收益管理决策的结构模型。     

易变质原料和有保质期要求的产品的生产—库存模型

基于生产系统与库存系统的集成关系,建立了原料易变质且制成品有保质期的产品的生产－库存模型,以每单位时期原料和产品发生的平均总费用最小为目标,确定原料的经济订货批一（ＥＯＱ）和产品的经济生产批量（ＥＰＱ）。