Flexibility and coordination in a supply chain with bidirectional option contracts and service requirement

<p>Symbols: MD simulation results at <i>T</i>_<i>w</i> = 160<i>K</i> (triangles), <i>T</i>_<i>w</i> = 90<i>K</i> (circles) [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0165175#pone.0165175.ref015" target="_blank">15</a>]. Solid line: New temperature jump model from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0165175#pone.0165175.e009" target="_blank">Eq 8</a> with <i>C</i>₁ = 2.348 × 10⁻⁹ and <i>C</i>₂ = 0.036 for <i>T</i>_<i>w</i> = 160<i>K</i>, <i>C</i>₁ = 2.121 × 10⁻⁹ and <i>C</i>₂ = 0.081 for <i>T</i>_<i>w</i> = 90<i>K</i>. Dashed line: Existing temperature jump model from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0165175#pone.0165175.e016" target="_blank">Eq 11</a> with <i>C</i> = 1.623 × 10⁻⁹ for <i>T</i>_<i>w</i> = 160<i>K</i>, <i>C</i> = 1.207 × 10⁻⁹ for <i>T</i>_<i>w</i> = 90<i>K</i>.</p

Scenario-based dynamic negotiation for the coordination of multi-enterprise supply chains under uncertainty

A novel scenario-based dynamic negotiation approach is proposed for the coordination of decentralized supply chains under uncertainty. The relations between the involved organizations (client, provider and third parties) and their respective conflicting objectives are captured through a non-zero-sum and non symmetric roles SBDN negotiation. The client (leader) designs coordination agreements considering the uncertain reaction of the provider (follower) resulting from the uncertain nature of the third parties, which is modeled as a probability of acceptance function. Different negotiation scenarios are studied: (i) cooperative, and (ii) non-cooperative and (iii) standalone cases. The use of the resulting models is illustrated through a case study with different vendors around aPeer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The Relative Risk Performance of the Islamic Sukuks over the Conventional Bonds: New Evidence from Value at Risk Approach

Sukuk are financial instruments similar to bonds that are compliant with Shari’ah (Islamic law). Since their inception in 2002, sukuk markets have experienced dramatic growth rates, attracting the attention of investors, analysts, and researchers alike. Despite Islamic bonds (thereafter termed sukuk) successfully holding their place in the international bond markets, this dissertation’s literature survey reveals that few empirical studies have undertaken a risk analysis of sukuk markets from the investors’ perspectives. Conventional bonds and sukuk as financial instruments are both exposed to various types of financial and market risks. This dissertation’s purpose is to engage in a risk analysis of sukuk markets compared with conventional bonds. Using a value at risk (VaR) approach, we examine whether sukuk are exposed to higher market risks than conventional bonds. In addition, we investigate whether the inclusion of sukuk in investment portfolios provides a diversification benefit to individual investors. We find that, for a given issuer, a conventional bonds’ VaR is significantly higher than that of sukuk, indicating that sukuk are less risky. We also find evidence of persistent sukuk illiquidity. We further show that introducing a sukuk allocation to a bond portfolio improves the risk–return trade-off. This dissertation’s findings have important policy implications for investors and Islamic bond issuers. Moreover, they are of particular importance to policy makers

Contracts Ex Machina

Smart contracts are self-executing digital transactions using decentralized cryptographic mechanisms for enforcement. They were theorized more than twenty years ago, but the recent development of Bitcoin and blockchain technologies has rekindled excitement about their potential among technologists and industry. Startup companies and major enterprises alike are now developing smart contract solutions for an array of markets, purporting to offer a digital bypass around traditional contract law. For legal scholars, smart contracts pose a significant question: Do smart contracts offer a superior solution to the problems that contract law addresses? In this article, we aim to understand both the potential and the limitations of smart contracts. We conclude that smart contracts offer novel possibilities, may significantly alter the commercial world, and will demand new legal responses. But smart contracts will not displace contract law. Understanding why not brings into focus the essential role of contract law as a remedial institution. In this way, smart contracts actually illuminate the role of contract law more than they obviate it

Tigard Microgrid Feasibility Study

68 pagesThe information presented in this report was collected through interviews with significant stakeholders from the City of Tigard, Portland General Electric (PGE), real estate developers, business owners, and specialists from the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO). The University of Oregon, in partnership with the City of Tigard, has synthesized this information to build a feasibility study for the deployment of solar microgrids in the city. This project seeks to answer the fundamental question: How can Tigard deploy microgrids using distributed renewable energy generation and battery storage at both the building and district scale to provide equity, resiliency, economic, and sustainability benefits to the public, local businesses, the city, and the utility company and its grid? Across the world, renewable resources are being deployed at ever increasing rates to replace fossil fuel generation sources in the race to achieve net‐zero carbon emissions. This adoption has been encouraged in the United States by a rapid decrease in technology costs and favorable policies at the federal and state levels. Solar power’s low cost, limited maintenance demands, and infinitely renewable energy source make it a perfect solution for building resilience in preparation for emergencies. Tigard and the rest of the Pacific Northwest are under the constant threat of wildfires and face the possibility of a massive Cascadia earthquake, which was famously reported on by The New Yorker magazine in 2015 (1). To prepare for this possibility, Tigard is exploring the case for creating a single user microgrid (SUM) that would provide energy to the public library, which will serve as the emergency operations center in times of need. In an effort to achieve Tigard’s sustainability objectives and transform the city into a clean energy leader in Oregon, the team is also exploring the expansion of this microgrid to include the Hunziker Core, a light industrial and manufacturing district located just north of the library. The core is dominated by warehouses and large commercial buildings with vast surface parking lots that provide opportunity for rooftop and ground mounted canopy solar. The district scale application of microgrid technology creates benefits for the grid, the utility, the owner of the generating assets, the City, and local businesses, particularly those that value resilient power. This multi‐user microgrid (MUM) is, however, the most complex system to fund and manage because of the potential number of generating facilities, owners, and user profiles. The implementation of the district scale MUM could be facilitated by the City’s enthusiastic endorsement and extensive cooperation from the utility, PGE