Methodology and Software for Interactive Decision Support

These Proceedings report the scientific results of an International Workshop on "Methodology and Software for Interactive Decision Support" organized jointly by the System and Decision Sciences Program of IIASA and The National Committee for Applied Systems Analysis and Management in Bulgaria. Several other Bulgarian institutions sponsored the workshop -- The Committee for Science to the Council of Ministers, The State Committee for Research and Technology and The Bulgarian Industrial Association. The workshop was held in Albena, on the Black Sea Coast. In the first section, "Theory and Algorithms for Multiple Criteria Optimization," new theoretical developments in multiple criteria optimization are presented. In the second section, "Theory, Methodology and Software for Decision Support Systems," the principles of building decision support systems are presented as well as software tools constituting the building components of such systems. Moreover, several papers are devoted to the general methodology of building such systems or present experimental design of systems supporting certain class of decision problems. The third section addresses issues of "Applications of Decision Support Systems and Computer Implementations of Decision Support Systems." Another part of this section has a special character. Beside theoretical and methodological papers, several practical implementations of software for decision support have been presented during the workshop. These software packages varied from very experimental and illustrative implementations of some theoretical concept to well developed and documented systems being currently commercially distributed and used for solving practical problems

“How have social grants in Zambia been paid and what lessons can be learnt from this?”

From the use of manual payment systems in the delivery of social cash transfers, most developing nations nowadays are resorting to electronic payment solutions to improve the timeliness and effective delivery of the social grants amidst programme scale ups. Like most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Zambia recently introduced an electronic delivery system through a commercial bank (ZANACO) and within two years, the Zambia Postal Services Corporation (ZAMPOST) was also engaged as an alternative payment solution for the Social Cash Transfer programme. Zambia’s manual system was designed in such a way that it used teachers or other local civil servants to make cash payments as ‘Pay Point Managers’ (PPMs). The system also uses Community Welfare Assistance Committees (CWACs) to help in the identification of eligible beneficiaries and to monitor payments. This manual payment system was assessed to have administrative and operational weaknesses including corruption and insecurity (because of the physical movement of cash from the bank to the pay points), prompting the introduction of electronic payment solutions. The e-payment system was introduced through ZANACO which is partly owned by the Government and partly private. Apart from Lusaka, this channel was slow in scaling up its services to other areas prescribed in the contract with the responsible Ministry, the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS), and was not very convenient for people with disabilities especially the blind and older persons not used to Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and pre-paid cards. ZAMPOST was subsequently engaged to cover two provinces with the aim of accelerating e-payment services and improving service delivery of the programme. Instead of developing such a system, however, the Post Office opted to operate just like the manual system, but instead of using PPMs, it opted to use its own employees to physically carry cash to pay points and make payments. This system posed several challenges including poor record keeping leading to payment of ineligible beneficiaries and failure to produce reports. Audit reports revealed grave irregularities with this payment method xii and many stakeholders, including donors were concerned about the poor performance of ZAMPOST. As a contribution to scholarship in the improvement of delivery systems in social protection, this dissertation therefore, highlights the advantages and disadvantages of using the manual as well as the electronic delivery systems in the delivery of social grants. Through the analysis of the manual payment system, e-payment system and the use of the Post Office in Zambia, I investigate how delivery systems are identified, designed and how they function. How they impact on beneficiaries as well as their implication on Government policies. I argue for participatory identification and designing of delivery systems of social grants. In addition, I argue that social grants delivery systems are largely influenced by global trends, whereby some countries adopt what others are using without necessarily considering local implications and capacity to sustain; for instance, mimicking electronic systems used in economically sound countries in the quest to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of social grants. This study sheds light on how Zambia’s social grants have been delivered vis-à-vis structural fundamentals, design and stakeholder engagement

Strategies for sustainable socio-economic development and mechanisms their implementation in the global dimension

The authors of the book have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to effectively use modern approaches to developing and implementation strategies of sustainable socio-economic development in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness of economic entities. Basic research focuses on economic diagnostics of socio-economic potential and financial results of economic entities, transition period in the economy of individual countries and ensuring their competitiveness, assessment of educational processes and knowledge management. The research results have been implemented in the different models and strategies of supply and logistics management, development of non-profit organizations, competitiveness of tourism and transport, financing strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises, cross-border cooperation. The results of the study can be used in decision-making at the level the economic entities in different areas of activity and organizational-legal forms of ownership, ministries and departments that promote of development the economic entities on the basis of models and strategies for sustainable socio-economic development. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in modern concepts and mechanisms for management of sustainable socio-economic development of economic entities in the condition of global economic transformations and challenges

Development of a model for the attention of settlement in a bank branchEvent: Office Unicentro Bank Caja Social

132 Páginas.Este proyecto de investigación busca desarrollar un modelo que permita analizar las diversas variables que inciden en la determinación de la utilización de recursos humanos para la realización de transacciones financieras en una oficina bancaria del Banco Caja Social. Se hace un análisis de la demanda transaccional y se construye una herramienta de pronóstico que es la base para la determinar la cantidad de personal FTE (full time equivalent) requeridos para atender de manera coherente con la estrategia de servicio definida por la entidad a los clientes dicho requerimiento. Se utilizan herramientas estadísticas de pronóstico, programación lineal para la optimización de recursos, y modelos de simulación de operaciones que generen elementos objetivos para la toma de decisiones

Texas Law Review

Journal containing articles, notes, book reviews, and other analyses of law and legal cases

Multiobjective Problems of Mathematical Programming; Proceedings of an International Conference, Yalta, USSR, October 26 - November 2, 1988

IIASA's approach to research in Multiple Objective Decision Support, Multiple Criteria Optimization (MCO) and related topics assumes a high level of synergy between three main components: methodological and theoretical backgrounds, computer implementation and decision support systems and real life applications. This synergy is reflected in the subjects of papers presented at the Conference as well as in the structure of the Proceedings which is divided into three main sections. In the first section, "Theory and Methodology of Multiple Criteria Optimization," 21 papers discussing new theoretical developments in MCO are presented. The second section, "Applications of Multiple Criteria Optimization, " contains nine papers dealing with real-life applications of MCO. Five papers on the application of MCO in the development of Decision Support Systems are included in the final section, "Multiple Criteria Decision Support." Among the important outcomes of this Conference were conclusions regarding further directions of research for Multiple Criteria Optimization, in particular, in the context of cooperation between scientists from Eastern and Western countries

Administrative Decentralization and Tax Compliance: A Transactional Cost Perspective

A common phenomenon in tax administration in developing countries is that tax is collected not according to the rules of law but according to informal agreements between taxpayers and tax collectors. This article offers a novel explanation of this phenomenon in the Chinese context in terms of administrative decentralization. Administrative decentralization is defined as the concentration of government functions at the lowest ranks of a geographically-dispersed bureaucracy. Decentralization increases communication costs associated with the implementation of law, and changes the structure of taxpayers’ costs in obtaining knowledge about the law. As a result, a “semi-compliant” type of behavior, involving many taxpayers who would have been compliant under a rule-based system, emerges where tax is remitted and collected despite both sides being under-informed about the law. The article argues that this dynamic has frustrated tax administration reform in China and, interestingly, explains the underdevelopment of the tax legal profession and of tax litigation

8 Міжнародна конференція "Моніторинг, моделювання та менеджмент емерджентної економіки" (M3E2 2019)

Матеріали конференції.Proceedings

The Institutions of State-agribusiness Relations in Georgia

This dissertation explores the nature of the institutions of SBRs and the institutional prerequisites for the emergence of strategic SBRs in Georgia. Hence, this research contributes to the academic debates on the role of the institutions of SBRs in the process of state intervention. Furthermore, this dissertation contributes to transition studies, regional studies, institutional economics, developmental studies, and empirical studies of state-led economic activities. The dissertation analyses the nature of SBRs in Georgia through the lens of the New Institutional Economics (NIE). Consequently, the framework of the institutional characteristics of strategic SBRs is formed based on the institutionalist approach to strategic SBRs. This framework is applied to analyse SBRs in three cases of state intervention in the food and agricultural sector of Georgia: Preferential Agrocredit (PA), Plant the Future (PTF), and Co-financing Agro Processing and Storage Enterprises (CAPSE). The PA project seeks to stimulate primary production, food processing, and storage by providing cheap, long-term, preferential loans. The PTF project co-finances investment in primary agricultural production to increase production and export capacity. Finally, the CAPSE project aims to stimulate the food processing industry via provision of grants, preferential credits, and co-financing investments. The key units of study are the formal and informal rules of interaction between the state and agribusinesses and their enforcement mechanisms. The thesis employs a qualitative research strategy for the systematic collection, organisation, and interpretation of the data. Data from 39 interviews, documents on relevant regulations and laws, and the reports from the international organisations are triangulated to address the research question