Evolutionary determinants of war

This paper considers evolutionarily stable decisions about whether to initiate violent conflict rather than accepting a peaceful sharing outcome. Focusing on small sets of players such as countries in a geographically confined area, we use the concept of evolutionary stability in finite populations. We find that players’ evolutionarily stable preferences widen the range of peaceful resource allocations that are rejected in favor of violent conflict, compared to the Nash equilibrium outcomes. Relative advantages in fighting strength are reflected in the equilibrium set of peaceful resource allocations.     

Synchronization in hub terminals with the circular arrangement problem

Hub terminals are important entities in modern distribution networks and exist for any transportation device, that is, cross docks and parcel distribution centers for trucks, container ports for ships, railway yards for trains, and hub airports for aircraft. In any of these hubs, the mid‐term planning task of synchronizing the transshipment of goods and passengers when servicing the transportation devices has to be solved, for which many different solution approaches specifically tailored to the respective application exist. We, however, take a unified view on synchronization in hubs and aim at a general building block. As a point of origin, a basic vertex ordering problem, the circular arrangement problem (CAP), is identified. We explain the relation between the CAP and hub processes, develop suited algorithms for solving the CAP, and extend the basic CAP by multiple additions, for example, arrival times, limited storage space, and multiple service points, make the problem adaptable to a wide range of hub terminals. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 62: 454–469, 2015     

See the light: Optimization of put-to-light order picking systems

Put-to-light order picking systems invert the basic logic of conventional picker-to-parts systems. Instead of successively visiting the storage positions of the stock keeping units (SKUs) when collecting picking orders, an order picker accompanies successive bins each containing multiple items of a specific SKU along a lane of subsequent orders. Whenever the picker passes an order requiring the current SKU, which is indicated by a light signal, she puts the requested number of items into the bin associated with the order. Such an order picking system is well-suited if the assortment is not overly large and all orders demand similar SKUs, so that it is mainly applied in distribution centers of brick-and-mortar retail chains. This paper evaluates four different setups of put-to-light systems, which, during operations, require the solution of different storage assignment and SKU sequencing problems. We formulate these problems, prove computational complexity, and suggest suited solution algorithms. By applying these algorithms in a comprehensive computational study, we benchmark the impact of the four different setups on picking performance. In this way, warehouse managers receive decision support on how to set up their put-to-light systems.     

Economic Espionage

We explore the efficacy of counterespionage measures in the realm of Economic Espionage. Although it is possible that increasing counterespionage measures has the desired effect of increasing domestic research and development (R&D) and reducing espionage by foreign entities, it is also possible that these increased measures actually do just the opposite: domestic R&D suffers and foreign stealing increases. We identify the appropriate settings for increased counterespionage measures and provide some policy advice.