Search results for " Programming"
showing 10 items of 1616 documents
Rail access charges and internal competition in high speed trains
2016
Abstract This paper develops an ex ante analysis of the introduction of on-track competition in High Speed Rail (HSR) lines. The distinctive elements of our analysis are the consideration of: (i) the vertical structure of the rail sector, (ii) operators that compete in prices and number of services, and (iii) access charges for the use of the rail infrastructure that are endogenous. We provide simulation results for three Spanish HSR routes. The socio-economic viability of entry is found to depend on whether infrastructure and rail operations are integrated or separated, and also on the policy rule to set rail access charges. Firstly, separation without entry is not an appropriate good poli…
Evolution of Telecom Operator Software Industry: Conclusions and Future
2009
Analysis of software industry is a challenging task due to the inherent characteristics of software industry. This is not simply due to the immaterial nature of software, or to zero marginal cost of replicating software, nor it is due to knowledge intensiveness of the industry. Most software is vertical software and is developed for the purposes of some vertical industry, such as finance or telecom, whose business the software will support. The major challenge for analysing a vertical software industry comes from understanding the interaction of software technology and the business requirements of the vertical industry.
A contribution to the linear programming approach to joint cost allocation: Methodology and application
2009
Abstract The linear programming (LP) approach has been commonly proposed for joint cost allocation purposes. Within a LP framework, the allocation rules are based on a marginal analysis. Unfortunately, the additivity property which is required to completely allocate joint costs fails in presence of capacity, institutional or environmental constraints. In this paper, we first illustrate that the non allocated part can be interpreted as a type of producer’s surplus. Then, by using the information contained in the Simplex tableau we propose an original two-stage methodology based on the marginal costs and the production elasticity of input factors to achieve an additive cost allocation pattern…
The Protocol on Trade and the Creation of the Southern African Development Community Free Trade Area
2017
The author offers a much-needed analysis of regional economic integration in the SADC and explains the successful establishment of the SADC Free Trade Area. He outlines the demand for regional market integration in the SADC’s member states from a structural perspective in consideration of intra-regional economic interdependence and trade relations. Against this background, this chapter provides an explanation of the specific provisions of the SADC Protocol on Trade that determined the institutional design of the free trade area. In this respect, Muntschick highlights the key role of South Africa as the regional economic hegemon. Finally, this chapter evaluates the performance of the SADC Fr…
Comparative evaluation of some interactive reference point-based methods for multi-objective optimisation
1999
Many real-world optimisation applications include several conflicting objectives of possibly nondifferentiable character. However, the lack of computationally efficient, interactive methods for nondifferentiable multi-objective optimisation problems is apparent. To satisfy this demand, a method called NIMBUS has been developed. Two versions of the basic method are presented and compared both theoretically and computationally. In order to give variety to the comparison, a related approach, called reference direction method is included. Theoretically, the methods differ in handling the information requested from the user. Numerical experiments indicate differences in computational efficiency …
Customers' purchase intentions as a reflection of price perception
2008
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate customers' intentions to purchase mobile communications services and how these intentions are affected by the customers' price perceptions in two customer segments – a mobile segment and a combined segment. A further aim was to gain insight into the formation of price perceptions, and customer characteristics that underlie the differences between purchase intentions and price perceptions.Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted in the Finnish mobile services market. The sample data were collected through a postal survey (n=3,000) sent to customers of a Finnish teleoperator. In analyzing empirical data the explanatory factor …
Improving demand forecasting accuracy using nonlinear programming software
2006
We address the problem of forecasting real time series with a proportion of zero values and a great variability among the nonzero values. In order to calculate forecasts for a time series, the model coefficients must be estimated. The appropriate choice of values for the smoothing parameters in exponential smoothing methods relies on the minimization of the fitting errors of historical data. We adapt the generalized Holt–Winters formulation so that it can consider the starting values of the local components of level, trend and seasonality as decision variables of the nonlinear programming problem associated with this forecasting procedure. A spreadsheet model is used to solve the problems o…
Aggregation methods to calculate the average price
2015
Abstract Average price is a numerical value that represents a set of prices, which may relate to firms, countries, or regions. This study presents new methods of average price aggregation that build on the unified aggregation operator (UAO). The UAO combines a wide range of sub-aggregation processes into a single formulation capable of accounting for the importance of each concept in the analysis. The aggregation system is flexible, can adapt to different environments, and provides a complete representation of relevant information. The UAO can calculate the average price for numerous geographical contexts such as supranational regions and countries. The study illustrates the UAO's utility b…
Aggregation systems for sales forecasting
2015
Abstract Sales forecasting consists of calculating the expected sales of a specific product or company. An important issue when dealing with sales forecasting is the calculation of the average sales, usually using the arithmetic mean or the weighted average. This study introduces new methods for calculating the average sales. These methods are two modern aggregation operators: the ordered weighted average, and the unified aggregation operator. The main advantage of this approach is the possibility to deal with uncertain and complex environments in a more complete way. The study develops some key examples through multi-person and multi-criteria techniques. The study also presents a numerical…
Why do retail consumers buy green apparel? A knowledge-attitude-behaviour-context perspective
2021
Consumers' increased knowledge and awareness of environmental issues have not translated into a pervasive rise in purchasing green apparel, resulting in a phenomenon known as the ‘attitude-behaviour gap’. The current study seeks to explicate this gap by examining the drivers of green apparel buying behaviour. Towards this end, the study examines the association of environmental knowledge, green trust, and environmental concern with environmental attitude and green apparel buying behaviour. It further investigates the association of labelling desire and labelling satisfaction with this type of buying behaviour as well. In addition, the study uses the theoretical lens of the knowledge-attitud…