Quality strategies in supply chain alliances of disposable items

This paper studies a single-product distribution channel where a supplier manufactures items of a given type, some of which are defective, that are sold by a retailer who only detects a subset of the defective items, passing the rest along to customers. We conjecture the structure of the demand and cost functions, assuming customers to have a decreasing marginal aversion to bad quality while both the supplier and the retailer make marginally increasing efforts to avoid bad quality. This allows us to deduce several implicit parameters of a cost model based on observable data, such as the share of the channel margin. Once the parameters of the model are available, we analyze the result of vertical integration. Although we confirm the well-known fact that vertical integration improves the quality perceived by the customer, we characterize the supplier's decision of whether or not to provide a better quality in terms of the individual channel margins. As an alternative, we derive the conditions under which the supplier and the retailer may devise a mutually beneficial transfer contract that simultaneously increases their profit and improves quality.     

不同减排合同下企业间纵向持股对供应链决策的影响

本文针对节能服务公司融资难、回款难及其与用户之间缺乏信任等现象,结合实际中节能服务公司与制造企业采取的不同减排合同机制,分别构建了减排效益分享型合同和减排量保证型合同下企业间纵向持股的三级低碳供应链模型,并对比分析了不同减排合同下持股策略对供应链企业决策及利润的影响。通过模型分析并结合案例及数值算例发现,在减排效益分享型合同中,当制造商单独持股节能服务公司时,增加持股比例会使产品减排量和链条上其他成员利润增加,同时低碳产品市场价格增加;当零售商和制造商同时持股节能服务公司时,两公司增加持股比例同样会使企业决策和利润得到优化,实现真正意义上的供应链企业大联盟,但该种情形会加大持股比例与企业决策和利润的协调难度。此外,在减排效益分享型合同下,制造商对节能服务公司持股可使环保红利和企业效益均得到增加,建议此种减排模式下的供应链企业实施持股策略;但对于减排量保证型合同,持股策略对各企业决策及利润并无明显改善,因此该种减排合同下不建议企业间采取股权合作策略。     

纵向沟通中隐性信息获取的激励兼容机制研究

下属隐性信息的获取是确保上级决策者有效决策的一个重要基础,现有的研究未能解决隐性信息获取的效率与预算平衡的两难问题。本文通过确认决策者的作用,在分析模型中引入决策者成本,并借鉴政府征收“所得税”的思路,不仅解决了隐性信息获取的真实性,而且解决了原有方案未能同时兼顾的预算平衡、利润最大化以及向下属转移损失等问题。     

Broken promise of college? New educational sorting mechanisms for intergenerational association in the 21st century

Previous studies have shown that intergenerational socioeconomic association becomes weaker as children's education level increases and is negligible among college graduates. A college degree is known as the great equalizer for intergenerational socioeconomic mobility. Recent studies, however, reported that the strong intergenerational association reemerges among advanced degree holders although it stays weak among BA-only holders. Despite the substantial theoretical importance and policy implications, the mechanisms behind the reemergence of the intergenerational association at the post-baccalaureate level have been less studied. In this paper, we examine the association between parents' education and children's earnings using the 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2017 National Survey of College Graduates data. Our results show that the strong intergenerational socioeconomic immobility among advanced degree holders is fully attributable to three educational sorting mechanisms: children from high-SES families (1) obtain expensive and financially rewarding advanced degrees, (2) attend selective institutions and major in hyper-lucrative fields of study such as law and medicine in graduate school, and (3) complete their education at a younger age and enjoy income growth over more years in the labor market. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Generation of multivariate distributions by vertical density representation

Troutt (1991,1993) proposed the idea of the vertical density representation (VDR) based on Box-Millar method. Kotz, Fang and Liang (1997) provided a systematic study on the multivariate vertical density representation (MVDR). Suppose that we want to generate a random vector X[d]Rⁿthat has a density function ?(x). The key point of using the MVDR is to generate the uniform distribution on [D]_?(v) = {x :?(x) = v} for any v > 0 which is the surface in RⁿIn this paper we use the conditional distribution method to generate the uniform distribution on a domain or on some surface and based on it we proposed an alternative version of the MVDR(type 2 MVDR), by which one can transfer the problem of generating a random vector X with given density f to one of generating (X, X_n+i) that follows the uniform distribution on a region in Rⁿ⁺¹defined by ?. Several examples indicate that the proposed method is quite practical.     

Quality certification, institutions and innovation in local agro-food systems: Protected designations of origin of olive oil in Spain

This article examines the interrelations between establishment of territorial quality certification systems (Protected Designations of Origin or PDOs), diffusion of innovations through local agro-food chains, and the role of the institutions overseeing geographical designations. Empirical analysis is applied to olive oil PDOs in Spain and entails a detailed case study of the “Sierra Mágina” PDO in Andalusia. Making use of the neoinstitutional concept of ‘organised proximity’—and focussing specifically on the problematic of organizational quality—the article assesses characteristics that support the competitive positions of local certified-product production systems. In particular, the authors find that collective organisation and coordination between PDO agents who are locally responsible for quality assurance and protection can enhance local competitiveness. Three hypotheses are confirmed. First, PDO labels can, through the action of PDO regulators, become quality assurance systems for distributors. Second, PDO Regulatory Boards can enhance and coordinate local inter-professional activities, particularly with respect to the diffusion of quality-enhancing innovations and knowledge. Third, the study indicates that local certified-product systems are starting to incorporate quality attributes linked to the environment and sustainable development, although much remains to be accomplished in this regard.     

Supply Chain Conflict Due to Store Brands: The Value of Wholesale Price Commitment in a Retail Supply Chain*

Store brands are of increasing importance in retail supply chains, often causing channel conflict, as the retailer's product directly competes with the manufacturer's national brand. Extant research on the resulting channel interactions either assumes the national brand manufacturer can credibly commit to maintaining a wholesale price or that he lacks such ability. However, these two scenarios imply very different supply chain interactions, as only a national brand manufacturer with commitment ability can strategically adjust a national brand wholesale price to prevent a store brand introduction by the retailer. We specifically analyze the impact of this assumption on the manufacturer, the retailer, and the customers. We determine when long‐term contracts that provide the manufacturer with such commitment ability can improve supply chain profitability.     

Gluing Copulas

We present a new way of constructing n-copulas, by scaling and gluing finitely many n-copulas. Gluing for bivariate copulas produces a copula that coincides with the independence copula on some grid of horizontal and vertical sections. Examples illustrate how gluing can be applied to build complicated copulas from simple ones. Finally, we investigate the analytical as well as statistical properties of the copulas obtained by gluing, in particular, the behavior of Spearman's ρ and Kendall's τ.     

Does performance management affect nurses’ well-being?

AimThis article focuses on employee performance-management practices in the healthcare sector. We specifically aim to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of employee performance-management practices on affective well-being of nurses in hospitals. Theory suggests that the features of employee-performance management (planning and evaluation of individual performances) predict affective well-being (in this study: job satisfaction and affective commitment).MethodsPerformance-management planning and evaluation and affective well-being were drawn from a survey of nurses at a Flemish hospital. Separate estimations were performed for different aspects of affective well-being.ResultsPerformance planning has a negative effect on job satisfaction of nurses. Both vertical alignment and satisfaction with the employee performance-management system increase the affective well-being of nurses; however, the impact of vertical alignment differs for different aspects of affective well-being (i.e. job satisfaction and affective commitment).ConclusionPerformance-management planning and evaluation of nurses are associated with attitudinal outcomes. The results indicate that employee performance-management features have different impacts on different aspects of well-being.     

建立海外华文媒体资源库的构想

21世纪初的海外华文媒体已经成为国际传播领域的重要民间媒体力量。如何让其保持一个良性稳定的发展态势,成为国家间跨文化交流和公共外交的主要渠道,值得研究。构建一个服务于海外华文媒体行业以及研究者、政策制定者的华文媒体资源库,是凝聚国内华文媒体研究者的经验和智慧,引导海外华文媒体稳健发展的基础工作。