Homogeneous discrete time alternating compound renewal process: A disability insurance application

Discrete time alternating renewal process is a very simple tool that permits solving many real life problems. This paper, after the presentation of this tool, introduces the compound environment in the alternating process giving a systematization to this important tool.The claim costs for a temporary disability insurance contract are presented. The algorithm and an example of application are also provide

The restructuring and future of the British Rail system

The paper focuses mainly on reviewing and analysing the restructuring of Britain’s railways, including the re-cently published proposals for its future. The objective is to investigate the current market structure, the market behaviour and the overall performance of the British rail system over time. In order to learn what other people think about the problems of the industry and their solutions, interviews with key people associated with the in-dustry and several submissions of some key interest parties to the 2004 railway structure review are used in this paper. The results are that all major characteristics of the rail reform in Britain are seen as workable and empiri-cal data reveal that they have worked comparatively successfully, before Hatfield. Because of bad implementa-tion some of the features, and in particular the private infrastructure manager, have not worked well. Most of the problems have arisen because of indecision over refranchising and the disruption following Hatfield. Further-more the policy of the Government after Hatfield created an extremely risk averse culture within the industry, at a time when Railtrack had not enough insights about the state of the rail network. Although empirically unjustified, safety improvement became the main issue, costs escalated and reliability and productivity experienced a huge fall. The current White Paper “The Future of Rail” is seen as partially misleading and not at all detailed. At present it is only clear that the proposals will result in further increase of political interference. Much will depend on the precise implementation of the proposed measures and therefore the future of British rail remains unclear

International lease accounting reform and economic consequences: the views of UK users and preparers

In response to perceived difficulties with extant lease-accounting standards in operation worldwide, the G4+1 issued a discussion paper which proposes that all leases should be recognized on the balance sheet [ASB (1999). Leases: Implementation of a new approach, discussion paper. London: Accounting Standards Board]. Leasing is now on the active agenda of the IASB. A major difficulty faced by standard setters lies in overcoming the preparer/user lobbying imbalance and obtaining ex ante evidence on the likely impact of regulatory reform. This paper contributes to the ongoing international debate by conducting a questionnaire survey of U.K. users and preparers to assess their views on proposals for lease-accounting reform and on the potential economic consequences of their adoption. The results, based on 132 responses, indicate that both groups accept that there are deficiencies in the current rules, but they do not agree on the way forward and believe that the proposals would lead to significant economic consequences for key parties. The impact on respondents' views of familiarity with the proposals, level of lease usage, and company size, is also examined

Evaluation of Community Renewal's Area Focus Projects in Edinburgh

No abstract available

Reputation and Credit Market Formation: How Relational Incentives and Legal Contract Enforcement Interact

The evidence suggests that relational contracting and legal rules play an important role in credit markets but on the basis of the prevailing field data it is difficult to pin down their causal impact. Here we show experimentally that relational incentives are a powerful causal determinant for the existence and performance of credit markets. In fact, in the absence of legal enforcement and reputation formation opportunities the credit market breaks down almost completely while if reputation formation is possible a stable credit market emerges even in the absence of legal enforcement of debt repayment. Introducing legal enforcement of repayments causes a further significant increase in credit market trading but has only a surprisingly small impact on overall efficiency. The reason is that legal enforcement of debt repayments weakens relational incentives and exacerbates another moral hazard problem in credit markets – the choice of inefficient high-risk projects.credit markets, relationship lending, reputation formation, legal enforcement

U.S. Wastewater Contract Operations and Structures: Dollars and Sense?

As wastewater and water utility contract operations become more mature, our ability to evaluate the cost and performance of these types of operations has similarly reached its prime. Public officials continue to have limited information available to them when contracting for operations or renewing contracts. What is the range of going rates for wastewater operations in different size plants? What advantages or disadvantages of contracting have surfaced recently? Have the structures of these types of contracts improved over time? Budget and schedule limitations may limit the public officials ability to answer these questions. This paper seeks to unlock the mysteries surrounding both the costs and performance of utility contract operations. George Mason University, in cooperation with Black and Veatch Management Consulting, has conducted a nation wide survey of contract operations of over 200 plants. Building upon the results of two previously conducted surveys, this study has expanded the state-of- knowledge significantly. By including an analysis of the renewal (or more importantly non-renewal) of contracts and contract structure changes, this new survey addresses many previously unanswered questions. More is now known about the level of effort associated with contract management. The results of the survey provide valuable insights into contract terms, staffing, new approoaches to repair and replacement responsibilty and capital renewal, innovative incentives and other trends over the last six years. The comprehensive nature of the study provides municipal governments with the information necessary to achieve operational cost saving goals relative to the size and scope of operation.

Relational union organising in a healthcare setting: a qualitative study

This article explores the impact of a relational organising model within a local UNISON NHS branch. While initial outcomes were modest, we argue that relational approaches have the potential to increase branch engagement with organising activity and to provide a focus on the importance of community within the workplace