Priority Rules for Multi‐Task Due‐Date Scheduling under Varying Processing Costs

We study the scheduling of multiple tasks under varying processing costs and derive a priority rule for optimal scheduling policies. Each task has a due date, and a non‐completion penalty cost is incurred if the task is not completely processed before its due date. We assume that the task arrival process is stochastic and the processing rate is capacitated. Our work is motivated by both traditional and emerging application domains, such as construction industry and freelance consulting industry. We establish the optimality of Shorter Slack time and Longer remaining Processing time (SSLP) principle that determines the priority among active tasks. Based on the derived structural properties, we also propose an effective cost‐balancing heuristic policy and demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed policy through extensive numerical experiments. We believe our results provide operators/managers valuable insights on how to devise effective service scheduling policies under varying costs.     

Menu Costs,Multiproduct Firms,and Aggregate Fluctuations

Golosov and Lucas recently argued that a menu‐cost model, when made consistent with salient features of the microdata, predicts approximate monetary neutrality. I argue here that their model misses, in fact, two important features of the data. First, the distribution of the size of price changes in the data is very dispersed. Second, in the data many price changes are temporary. I study an extension of the simple menu‐cost model to a multiproduct setting in which firms face economies of scope in adjusting posted and regular prices. The model, because of its ability to replicate this additional set of microeconomic facts, predicts real effects of monetary policy shocks that are much greater than those in Golosov and Lucas and nearly as large as those in the Calvo model. Although episodes of sales account for roughly 40% of all goods sold in retail stores, the model predicts that these episodes do not contribute much to the flexibility of the aggregate price level.     

制度经济学视域下官僚制形成机制探微

官僚制是韦伯的重要管理思想之一,对管理学以及相关领域的发展影响巨大,了解官僚制形成机制对把握当下中国管理发展路向具有重要意义。从制度经济学的角度考察可知,在社会经济大发展、社会大分工的背景下,人们喜欢追逐交易成本最低的制度形态,而官僚制正是各种管理制度形态充分竞争后的最优选择。     

偏好、协调成本与多样化的农村金融组织

农村金融体系中包含着多样化的金融组织,人们对这些组织的支持存在很大的差异,影响着农村金融体系的构成和功能的发挥。为解决分歧,增进农村金融体系功能,文章探讨多样化的金融组织产生并共存于农村金融体系的原因,认为偏好和协调成本的差异造成了不同金融组织的比较优势,形成了农村金融市场中生机勃勃的混同均衡和分离均衡。偏好的差异是由人的自然属性和社会属性造成的,协调成本的差异是由获取、加工信息等能力以及保护合作者产权等方面的制度差异造成的。人性、人的信息处理能力以及产权保护等制度这三个方面差异阻碍着不同金融组织之间的竞争,支持着多样化金融组织的共存。对待不同类型金融组织的政策一方面应削弱支撑它们的差异性因素,增强竞争;另一方面当削弱差异性因素的成本大于由此带来的收益时,应积极地利用它们为农村经济服务。     

我国机场环境外部成本计量及内部化研究

利用HPM法和ICAO发动机排放数据库构建航空运输业噪声和排放环境外部成本测算模型,选取首都国际机场等6个机场作为实证研究的对象,测算其2008年噪声和排放产生的环境外部成本,可以看出我国机场普遍存在显著的环境外部成本。根据外部成本内部化的经济理论,针对我国航空运输业的发展现状可实施机场噪声收费和排放权交易制度,将我国航空运输业环境外部成本内部化。     

控制权类型、银行债权优先结构与权益代理成本——基于金融危机背景的实证分析

基于金融危机背景,分别以2007年308家上市公司和2009年600家上市公司为样本,通过实证分析,探讨银行债权优先结构对权益代理成本的影响,并比较不同控制权类型上市公司的债权优先结构对代理成本影响效果的异同.研究结果显示:(1)银行债务融资有助于降低权益代理成本;(2)质押、抵押债务融资比率与权益代理成本呈显著正相关,尤其在国有控股上市公司;(3)保证债务融资比率与权益代理成本显著负相关,国有控股上市公司保证债务的治理效果更好;(4)金融危机前期和后期的实证研究结论基本一致,这表明本文的研究结论具有稳健性.     

The trinity of wage setting in EMU: A policy proposal

Diverging labor cost developments are often considered to be one of the most important factors that led to large current account imbalances in the euro area (EA) in the run-up to the global financial crisis. It has also been shown that wage growth differentials have significantly lowered the co-movement of EA countries’ business cycles – the most widely used meta-criterion for optimum currency areas. Against this background, this paper develops a wage-setting benchmark that aims to keep the economy in internal equilibrium and to maintain price stability, while it also exhibits the capacity to correct for external imbalances. The proposed wage benchmark is very simple and may serve as an anchor for the macroeconomic dialogue in Economic and Monetary Union. In order to demonstrate the potentially beneficial effects of such a wage benchmark we present some simulations showing how current account balances and labor costs would have developed across EA countries if the rule had served as a benchmark already in the run up to the crisis.     

The impact of quasi-markets on processes and factors affecting the costs of contracting

The aim of this paper is to ascertain the impact of quasi-markets on contracting processes and factors affecting the costs of contracting in Finnish health care in the specific case of laboratory services. By means of a comparative case analysis, we ascertained the changes in organizational contracting practices and identified the actions affecting the transaction costs of contracting in the case of an autonomous municipal enterprise laboratory compared with the same laboratory as a hierarchically run municipal unit. The research was conducted during the years 2007–2011. The results suggest that introducing quasi-markets into laboratory services increased the cost factors of contracting; and had a negative impact on the laboratories’ willingness to create new market relationships.     

中国2007绿色能源投入产出表编制及应用分析

基于最新的全国42部门投入产出表,创新性地编制出2007年全国能源投入产出表、全国绿色能源投入产出表,并在此基础上通过分析比较两表间的影响力系数、感应度系数及能源部门环境成本弹性系数,结果表明:煤炭开采业、石油开采业、火电业和炼焦业对其他部门的制约程度更大;石油开采业、石油加工业、火电业和炼焦业对其他生产部门的“拉动”作用明显下降;天然气开采业的感应度系数和影响力系数有明显改善;煤炭开采业、石油开采业、火电业和石油加工业的生产成本受环境治理成本变化影响较大.鉴此,提出中国“十二五”期间能源产业结构调整的有关政策建议.     

关于房地产行业环境成本控制探讨——从开发商角度出发

房产开发作为现代城市中土地使用面积最大的项目,同时也是城市中最主要的建设内容,消耗着大量的能量和有限资源,也影响着居民的生活方式和城市的生态质量。如何在经济发展的过程中更加注重环境的保护以及资源的合理利用,是城市可持续发展中必须要解决的问题。文章以产业链的形式归纳出房地产行业对于生态环境的破坏,从开发商角度出发,探讨如何更好地控制住房地产行业产生的环境成本,转变房地产传统发展模式,促进城市发展进入良性循环。