Nonlinear pricing with consumer satiation

In various scenarios, consumers may become satiated with products, and the degree of satiation is directly associated with their prior experiences. Confronted with consumer satiation, the seller is unable to either identify consumers who have a higher likelihood of being satiated ex ante or distinguish satiated from non‐satiated consumers ex post. Therefore, the seller should address dynamic selling, valuation uncertainty, and quantity decisions, all of which are important operational issues. We consider a two‐period problem in which consumer types are influenced by their prior consumption experiences. Faced with these consumers, the seller intends to optimize quantities and adjust the prices of the products in each period to maximize revenue. We find that the seller may reduce ex ante production quantity as some consumers become satiated. Moreover, the ex ante quantity is first decreasing and then increasing with regard to the satiation rate. Furthermore, two‐period information asymmetries may provide a rationale for upward distortion in quantity when consumer preferences are highly sensitive to first‐period consumption. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 63: 386–400, 2016     

Interpreting the Ribchester Helmet

In 1796 a 13-year-old boy playing on wasteland behind his father’s house in Ribchester, Lancashire discovered an assemblage of over 30 Roman artefacts, including a decorated brass helmet. Although partially corroded the Ribchester helmet is a fine example of a first-century AD cavalry sports helmet. This article considers how the interpretation of the helmet has evolved since its discovery. The multi-faceted iconography of the helmet with its mural crown diadem is that of an elite soldier and is paralleled in other examples of cavalry sports helmets of the Ribchester type. The long-neglected imagery on the helmet bowl is reinterpreted and seen not as a haphazard collection of randomly placed combatants but as a highly structured, symmetrical composition specifically designed to be viewed from different directions.     

Sensitivity analysis on responsive pricing and production under imperfect demand updating

This paper examines three types of sensitivity analysis on a firm's responsive pricing and responsive production strategies under imperfect demand updating. Demand has a multiplicative form where the market size updates according to a bivariate normal model. First, we show that both responsive production and responsive pricing resemble the classical pricing newsvendor with posterior demand uncertainty in terms of the optimal performance and first‐stage decision. Second, we show that the performance of responsive production is sensitive to the first‐stage decision, but responsive pricing is insensitive. This suggests that a “posterior rationale” (ie, using the optimal production decision from the classical pricing newsvendor with expected posterior uncertainty) allows a simple and near‐optimal first‐stage production heuristic for responsive pricing. However, responsive production obtains higher expected profits than responsive pricing under certain conditions. This implies that the firm's ability to calculate the first‐stage decision correctly can help determine which responsive strategy to use. Lastly, we find that the firm's performance is not sensitive to the parameter uncertainty coming from the market size, total uncertainty level and information quality, but is sensitive to uncertainty originating from the procurement cost and price‐elasticity.     

装备维修器材生产路径决策的两阶启发式算法

当前装备供应保障系统中维修器材存在短缺、积压以及配送系统效率低下等问题,亟须对生产、库存和配送作业环节进行集成优化。为客观反映各个决策环节,将该问题公式化为一个混合整数线性规划模型,针对该模型多变量、多约束的特点,提出了一个基于数学规划的两阶启发式算法对其进行求解。结合算例,检验模型的可行性,并选取求解器CPLEX和一个类似的迭代算法与该算法在求解质量和运算时间方面进行对比与分析。结果表明,提出的模型是合理可行的,该算法在求解不同规模实例时表现出优异的性能。     

Mixed rules in multi‐issue allocation situations

Multi‐issue allocation situations study problems where an estate must be divided among a group of agents. The claim of each agent is a vector specifying the amount claimed by each agent on each issue. We present a two‐stage rule. First, we divide the estate among the issues following the constrained equal awards rule. Second, the amount assigned to each issue is divided among the agents in proportion to their demands on this issue. We apply the rule to two real‐world problems: the distribution of natural resources between countries and the distribution of budget for education and research between universities.     

构建军民融合法治保障体系的几点理论思考

法治是推动军民融合发展的重要基石,不管从整合主体力量、优化资源配置,还是保障各系统有效运行等方面都发挥着不可替代的作用。针对当前军民融合法治保障体系存在的法规制度"碎片化"、滞后性,以及适用性不强等矛盾问题,军民融合法治保障体系的构建必须把握好坚持党的领导与维护法治的权威性,坚持改革创新与维护法治的稳定性,坚持分工协作与维护法治的系统性,坚持开放共融与维护法治的独特性等基本原则。     

Missile systems: “Flexible modularity” and incremental technological change in military production∗

It is often stated that technological change in the military field is characterised by the introduction of radical innovations rather than by incremental processes of technological change. This article illustrates the diversity of military innovation by arguing that technological change in missiles systems is dominated by incremental change. While some large weapons platforms display the design rigidities normally associated with complex systems, missiles are characterised by “flexible modularity”. Flexible modularity facilitates the continuous introduction of upgrades, and makes missile systems amenable to gradual technological change. Besides, it has significant implications for the future role of missile systems, and poses special problems for missile disarmament and technology control initiatives.     

Country survey VIII: Federal republic of Yugoslavia

This survey article focuses on defence economics issues and provides data and analysis on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's (FRY) defence policy, defence spending, the size of its armed forces, its defence industries and the cost of the civil war. The main section is devoted to the period from 1990 to the present and deals with the following aspects: the situation after the break‐up of the former Yugoslavia, general economic data; the cost of the civil war, the defence budget; the armed forces; the manufacture of armaments and the structure of the defence industry.     

A PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS OF THE SECURITY AND DEFENCE TECHNOLOGICAL AND INDUSTRIAL BASE IN SPAIN

This study analyses the performance of the productivity of the main industrial subsectors composing the security and defence technological and industrial base (SDTIB) in Spain from 1996 to 2009. Accordingly, we have used the non-parametric data envelopment analysis and bootstrapping techniques to compute Malmquist productivity indexes that allow us to split productivity growth into efficiency change and technical progress. The results obtained show productivity improvement in the SDTIB as a whole due mainly to advances in technology and to a lesser extent to the contribution of technical efficiency. The bootstrap approach yields further evidence, as for many cases, productivity growth or decline, is not statistically significant. This is the first time a study of this kind has been carried out on the production process of this sector in Spain.     

浅谈法治边检建设

＂法治边检＂建设是在党的十八届三中全会提出建设＂法治中国＂目标时代背景下,在提高边检服务水平工作进入深水区、社会各界对边检工作要求日趋严格和多样化形势下,边检机关立足工作实际,顺应时代发展的必然选择。分析＂法治边检＂的理论内涵和面临形势,总结法治边检建设现状和存在问题,从构建体系型边检、有限型边检、效能型边检、责任型边检、服务型边检、信用型边检、开放型边检、廉洁型边检等方面对法治边检体系建设进行了探讨。