An optimal approach for the joint problem of level of repair analysis and spare parts stocking

We propose a method that can be used when deciding on how to maintain capital goods, given a product design and the layout of a repair network. Capital goods are physical systems that are used to produce products or services. They are expensive and technically complex and have high downtime costs. Examples are manufacturing equipment, defense systems, and medical devices

User Costs versus Waiting Services and Depreciation in a Model of Production

The paper develops an extension of a one period model of production involving beginning and end of the period capital stocks along with output and input flows that is due to Hicks and Edwards and Bell. This generalized Austrian model of production takes into account that end of the period capital stocks result from: (i) purchases of new investment goods; (ii) internal construction of firm capital stock components and (iii) holdings of (depreciated) capital goods that were held by the firm at the beginning of the period. These different methods of creating end of period holdings of capital stocks generally have different resource requirements and hence the one period production possibilities set is more complex than the usual one. This general model of production is used to justify the decomposition of the Jorgensonian user cost of capital into separate waiting services and depreciation components.Production theory, user cost of capital, waiting services, depreciation, Austrian models of production, net versus gross investment

O tratare complexa a sistemului de pensii din Romania

The pension system in Romania is currently in the process of identifying methods and models that meet the requirements imposed by the disappearance of barriers in the flow of goods, capital and service mobility. Taking this into consideration, solutions to a more complex study of the Romanian pension system must be found.social insurance; pension system; contributions;social dimension

Imported Equipment, Human Capital and Economic Growth in Developing Countries

De Long and Summers (1991) began a literature examining the impact of equipment investment on growth. In this paper we examine such a relationship for developing countries by considering imports of equipment from advanced countries as our measure of equipment investment for a sample of 55 developing countries. We examine whether the level of human capital in a country affects its ability to benefit from such investment. We find a complex interrelationship between imported equipment and human capital. Generally, the relationship between imported equipment and growth is lowest, and often negative, for countries with low levels of human capital, highest for countries within an intermediate range and somewhat in between for countries with the highest level of human capital.Capital Goods Imports, Human Capital, Developing Countries, Technology Diffusion

Multiscale optical inspection systems for the regeneration of complex capital goods

The inspection of capital goods with complex geometries is a challenging task due to the limited maneuvering and measuring space available. We developed a set of optical measurement systems for the inline inspection of such machines and capital goods. At first we introduce a borescopic fringe projection system based on of-the-shelf components. It is capable of detecting geometric variances in hard to reach areas, e.g. inside machines or in between parts with highly complex geometries like blade integrated discs (blisks). Single parts like compressor blades are measured with an inverse fringe projection system, which uses fully adaptable fringe patterns. The adaptable patterns lead to a high sensitivity and high speed. Results can be achieved with only one fringe pattern per measurement. In order to perform microscopic measurements and surface characterizations, we use a michelson interferometer with advanced 3D reconstruction algorithms to detect microscopic variances of the objects surface. These newly developed algorithms lead to higher sensitivity and improved results. Together these three inspection systems enable us to detect and to quantify geometric defects or variances of different industrial parts. Based on this information the prediction of the reliability of a part can be improved and the lifetime of an industrial part can be extended leading to a reduction of maintenance costs.DFG/SFB/87

The economics of system integration: Toward an evolutionary interpretation

In this work we propose some elements of an interpretation of the dynamics of system integration (and disintegration) in the case of complex product systems (CoPS henceforth). The latter include a significant subset of capital goods such as most mobile communication systems, many military systems, corporate information technology networks, train engines

The pervasive effects of high taxation of capital goods in India

India's heavy duties on capital goods blur the incentive signals from the tariff structure. In practice, that structure favors import substitution of intermediate products from heavy industry and discourages exports. The complex protection structure should be simplified, with priority to slashing the duties on capital goods. The purpose of this paper is to contribute further to the existing studies by analyzing the international dynamics of the protection structure on the basis of recent data valid for the late 1980s. The project data were assembled with a view to providing quantitative indications, and answers to the following questions: (a) What are the respective profitabilities of the domestic and international markets for Indian industries?; (b) How much of Indian industry's lack of international competitiveness stems from the extra costs paid for inputs?; (c) What is the impact of India's investment costs, grossed-up by duties and taxes on imported equipment and by higher prices of domestic machinery, on the value added and the effectiveprotection of Indian industry?; (d) What is the minimum level of nominal protection required by Indian industry to compensate for the extra costs paid for its inputs and investments?; and (e) To which extent are the actual nominal and effective protections received by Indian industry in concordance with the levels of protection stemming from items (c) and (d) above?Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Globalization and Financial Integration

Beyond the Cost of Price Adjustment: Investments in Pricing Capital

The literature on costs of price adjustment has long argued that changing prices is a complex and costly process. In fact, some authors have suggested that we should think of firms’ price-setting activities as “producing” prices, similar to the way firms use production processes to produce goods and services. In this paper we explore one natural extension of this view, that besides observing costs of price adjustment, we should also expect to see firm-level investments in capital expenditures into these “pricing” production processes. We coin the term “pricing capital” for these investments, and suggest that they can improve the efficiency of the “pricing production” activities by both reducing the costs of adjusting prices, and improving the effectiveness of price adjustments in future periods. Using two types of data sources, we find compelling evidence of the existence as well as the importance of pricing capital in firms. The existence of firm-level “pricing capital” has the potential of fundamentally altering the way we think about pricing and price adjustment in many areas of economics. It suggests looking toward the “pricing capital” to decipher the likely degree and causes of price rigidity and its variation across price setters, markets, and industries. Moreover, “pricing capital” introduces a new, higher-level, pricing decision made by individual firms. Decisions to invest in pricing capital compete with traditional capital investment decisions that have long been studied in economics, such as capital investments in plant, equipment, and R&D. Furthermore, since pricing capital is a choice variable, it implies that costs of price adjustment often used in models of price rigidity are endogenous. As such, pricing capital offers new insights into the micro-foundations of the costs of price adjustment. The most provocative implication of the new theory of pricing, however, is that the allocative efficiency of the price system itself may be determined endogenously by individual price setters who choose whether and how much to invest in pricing capital.Cost of Price Adjustment, Menu Cost, Managerial and Customer Costs of Price Adjustment, Pricing Capital, Pricing Production Process (PPP), Price Rigidity, Sticky Prices, Rigid Prices, Microfoundations of the Costs of Price Adjustment, Allocative Efficiency, Price System, Endogenous Price Adjustment Cost

Buyer-Seller Relationships in International Trade: Evidence from U.S. States' Exports and Business-Class Travel

International trade has become increasingly dependent on the transmission of complex information, often realized via face-to-face communication. This paper provides novel evidence for the importance of in-person business meetings in international trade. Interactions among trade partners entail a fixed cost of trade, but at the same time they generate relationship capital, which adds bilateral specific value to the traded products. Differences in the face-to-face communication intensity of traded goods, bilateral travel costs and foreign market size determine the optimal amount of interaction between trade partners. Using U.S. state level data on international business-class air travel as a measure of in-person business meetings, I find robust evidence that the demand for business-class air travel is directly related to volume and composition of exports in differentiated products. I also find that trade flows in R&D intensive manufactures and goods facing contractual frictions are most dependent on face-to-face meetings. The econometric identification exploits the cross-state variation in bilateral exports and business-class air travelers by foreign country and time period, circumventing any spurious correlation induced by cross-country differences driving aggregate travel and trade patterns.state exports; air travel; fixed export cost; face-to-face communication; relationship intensity; tacit knowledge

Evolution of the UK banking system

The financial system provides three key services: payment services, intermediation between savers and borrowers, and insurance against risk. These services support the allocation of capital, and the production and exchange of goods and services, all of which are essential to a well-functioning economy. While the basic financial services are relatively timeless, the characteristics of the system providing them change continuously, in response to both economic and regulatory developments. This article tracks the evolution of a core component of the financial system in the United Kingdom, the banking sector, describing how technology has transformed the economics of banking, and how deregulation in the 1970s and 1980s freed banks to take advantage of new opportunities through globalisation and financial innovation. The result has been the emergence of large, functionally and geographically diverse banking groups. Post-crisis, public-policy attention has been focused on the costs of a banking sector dominated by large and complex institutions that are seen as too important to fail.