An agent-based dynamic information network for supply chain management

One of the main research issues in supply chain management is to improve the global efficiency of supply chains. However, the improvement efforts often fail because supply chains are complex, are subject to frequent changes, and collaboration and information sharing in the supply chains are often infeasible. This paper presents a practical collaboration framework for supply chain management wherein multi-agent systems form dynamic information networks and coordinate their production and order planning according to synchronized estimation of market demands. In the framework, agents employ an iterative relaxation contract net protocol to find the most desirable suppliers by using data envelopment analysis. Furthermore, the chain of buyers and suppliers, from the end markets to raw material suppliers, form dynamic information networks for synchronized planning. This paper presents an agent-based dynamic information network for supply chain management and discusses the associated pros and cons

Review of National Competition Policy Reforms

In 2004 the Australian Government asked the Productivity Commission to look at the impact on the economy and the community of NCP and related reforms and for areas which offer opportunities for significant gains. The Commission found that the benefits of NCP have greatly outweighed the costs. The benefits have flowed to both low and high income earners, and to country as well as city Australia. The Commission outlines how Australia�s ageing population and other international and domestic pressures necessitate further actions to raise productivity and sustainability. The Commission proposes a wide-ranging agenda for nationally coordinated reform, particularly in the areas of energy and water, freight transport, greenhouse gas abatement and consumer protection. An overarching review of the health system and further reform in vocational education and training are also needed.Public Economics,

Review of National Competition Policy Reforms

In 2004, the Australian Government asked the Productivity Commission to look at the impact on the economy and the community of NCP and related reforms and for areas which offer opportunities for significant gains. The Commission found that the benefits of NCP have greatly outweighed the costs. The benefits have flowed to both low and high income earners, and to country as well as city Australia. The Commission outlines how Australia’s ageing population and other international and domestic pressures necessitate further actions to raise productivity and sustainability. The Commission proposes a wide-ranging agenda for nationally coordinated reform, particularly in the areas of energy and water, freight transport, greenhouse gas abatement and consumer protection. An overarching review of the health system and further reform in vocational education and training are also needed.National Competition Policy, NCP, Reforms, Infrastructure, Health, Transport, Education

Regulatory Theory: Foundations and applications

This volume introduces readers to regulatory theory. Aimed at practitioners, postgraduate students and those interested in regulation as a cross-cutting theme in the social sciences, Regulatory Theory includes chapters on the social-psychological foundations of regulation as well as theories of regulation such as responsive regulation, smart regulation and nodal governance. It explores the key themes of compliance, legal pluralism, meta-regulation, the rule of law, risk, accountability, globalisation and regulatory capitalism. The environment, crime, health, human rights, investment, migration and tax are among the fields of regulation considered in this ground-breaking book. Each chapter introduces the reader to key concepts and ideas and contains suggestions for further reading. The contributors, who either are or have been connected to the Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) at The Australian National University, include John Braithwaite, Valerie Braithwaite, Peter Grabosky, Neil Gunningham, Fiona Haines, Terry Halliday, David Levi-Faur, Christine Parker, Colin Scott and Clifford Shearing

Islamic Mortgages: A Comparative Study to Improve the Legal and Financial System of Mortgages in the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a Regulatory Analysis of the US and UK, and Case Analyses of the UK, Sharjah, Dubai and Saudi Arabia

This research is the first comprehensive critical evaluation of the ways in which Islamic mortgages can be developed and executed in a Sharia compliant manner in order to boost the development of housing markets primarily in Saudi Arabia, with regulatory analyses of securitisation in the US and EU, and case analyses of the UK, Sharjah, and Dubai. The regulatory analyses of securitization show how the excesses of modern financial legal techniques to greatly expand opportunistic developments of mortgagebacked markets led to market failures, and that such market failure could be avoided by the use of Islamic finance principles. These case analyses have been selected to provide a spectrum of different socio-economic contexts in which to compare the Saudi Arabian system. The study also engages in the examination of the Western and Islamic legal systems and their impact on mortgaging and securitisation theory and practice. Securitisation, namely the activity involving the packaging, dividing and selling of mortgages in the primary market has in recent years become a well-established business process (with banking, financing and legal implications and aspects) for enhancing home financing and home ownership in the USA, the UK and Western Europe, all of which are subject to common law contractual processes. However, it would be natural to suppose that further development of the Saudi Arabian and other Islamic legal systems would include securitisation techniques in the near future. Indeed, certain Islamic finance structures lend themselves to securitisation processes which are investigated in depth in this work. Banking and financial activities in the Islamic countries are however governed by a mix of conventional practice, common law and Islamic law, with variations occurring in the same between different jurisdictions. This study aims to engage in a detailed comparison of the conventional (Western) banking system and the banking procedures and processes followed in Islamic jurisdictions in order to develop and recommend a standardized securitisation system for mortgages, which draws upon the best of western regulations and practices and is yet compliant with Islamic law, i.e. the Sharia. The Western banking system is based upon intermediation between entities that have money and ones that need to use it, the charging of interest and a rational decisionmaking process between banks and their clients. The Islamic system on the other hand is governed by Islamic law, which prohibits interest, speculation and any type of activity that is perceived to be oppressive. It recommends close partnerships between bankers andclients, rather than short-term transactional utility. The establishment of common ground between these two systems is undoubtedly a challenging task, particularly because of the differences in the interpretation of religious law by different clerics. This study however points out that significant common ground can be established if standardisation of legal practices and bank policies can be achieved in Islamic countries. The development of high levels of standardisation will help in the creation of securitisation processes for housing mortgages that are Sharia compliant and thus satisfy two important objectives, namely religious requirements and the expansion of the housing market

Connecting Continents: Archaeology and History in the Indian Ocean World

Winner, Society for American Archaeology Book Award In recent decades, the vast and culturally diverse Indian Ocean region has increasingly attracted the attention of anthropologists, historians, political scientists, sociologists, and other researchers. Largely missing from this growing body of scholarship, however, are significant contributions by archaeologists and consciously interdisciplinary approaches to studying the region’s past and present. Connecting Continents addresses two important issues: how best to promote collaborative research on the Indian Ocean world, and how to shape the research agenda for a region that has only recently begun to attract serious interest from historical archaeologists. The archaeologists, historians, and other scholars who have contributed to this volume tackle important topics such as the nature and dynamics of migration, colonization, and cultural syncretism that are central to understanding the human experience in the Indian Ocean basin. This groundbreaking work also deepens our understanding of topics of increasing scholarly and popular interest, such as the ways in which people construct and understand their heritage and can make use of exciting new technologies like DNA and environmental analysis. Because it adopts such an explicitly comparative approach to the Indian Ocean, Connecting Continents provides a compelling model for multidisciplinary approaches to studying other parts of the globe. Contributors: Richard B. Allen, Edward A. Alpers, Atholl Anderson, Nicole Boivin, Diego Calaon, Aaron Camens, Saša Čaval, Geoffrey Clark, Alison Crowther, Corinne Forest, Simon Haberle, Diana Heise, Mark Horton, Paul Lane, Martin Mhando, and Alistair Patterson.https://ohioopen.library.ohio.edu/oupress/1021/thumbnail.jp

Connecting Continents

In recent decades, the vast and culturally diverse Indian Ocean region has increasingly attracted the attention of anthropologists, historians, political scientists, sociologists, and other researchers. Largely missing from this growing body of scholarship, however, are significant contributions by archaeologists and consciously interdisciplinary approaches to studying the region’s past and present. Connecting Continents addresses two important issues: how best to promote collaborative research on the Indian Ocean world, and how to shape the research agenda for a region that has only recently begun to attract serious interest from historical archaeologists. The archaeologists, historians, and other scholars who have contributed to this volume tackle important topics such as the nature and dynamics of migration, colonization, and cultural syncretism that are central to understanding the human experience in the Indian Ocean basin. This groundbreaking work also deepens our understanding of topics of increasing scholarly and popular interest, such as the ways in which people construct and understand their heritage and can make use of exciting new technologies like DNA and environmental analysis. Because it adopts such an explicitly comparative approach to the Indian Ocean, Connecting Continents provides a compelling model for multidisciplinary approaches to studying other parts of the globe. Contributors: Richard B. Allen, Edward A. Alpers, Atholl Anderson, Nicole Boivin, Diego Calaon, Aaron Camens, Saša Čaval, Geoffrey Clark, Alison Crowther, Corinne Forest, Simon Haberle, Diana Heise, Mark Horton, Paul Lane, Martin Mhando, and Alistair Patterson

Federal Register

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii