FDI in Post-Production Services and Product Market Competition

Post-production services, such as sales, distribution, and maintenance, comprise a crucial element of business activity. A foreign firm faces a higher cost to perform such services than its domestic rival because of the lack of proximity to customers. We explore an international duopoly model in which a foreign firm can reduce its cost for post-production services by foreign direct investment (FDI), or alternatively can outsource such services to its domestic rival. Trade liberalization, if not accompanied by liberalization of service FDI, can hurt domestic consumers and decrease world welfare, but the negative welfare impacts can be mitigated and eventually turned into positive ones as service FDI is also liberalized. This finding yields important policy implications, given the reality that the progress of liberalization in service sectors is limited compared to the substantial progress already made in trade liberalization.post-production services, trade liberalization, FDI, outsourcing, international oligopoly

Economic Viability of Software Defined Networking (SDN)

Economical and operational facets of networks drive the necessity for significant changes towards fundamentals of networking architectures. Recently, the momentum of programmable networking attempts illustrates the significance of economic aspects of network technologies. Software Defined Networking (SDN) has got the attention of researchers from both academia and industry as a means to decrease network costs and generate revenue for service providers due to features it promises in networking. In this article, we investigate how programmable network architectures, i.e. SDN technology, affect the network economics compared to traditional network architectures, i.e. MPLS technology. We define two metrics, Unit Service Cost Scalability and Cost-to-Service, to evaluate how SDN architecture performs compared to MPLS architecture. Also, we present mathematical models to calculate certain cost parts of a network. In addition, we compare different popular SDN control plane models, Centralized Control Plane (CCP), Distributed Control Plane (DCP), and Hierarchical Control Plane (HCP), to understand the economic impact of them with regards to the defined metrics. We use video traffic with different patterns for the comparison. This work aims at being a useful primer to providing insights regarding which technology and control plane model are appropriate for a specific service, i.e. video, for network owners to plan their investments

FDI in Post-Production Services and Product Market Competition

Post-production services, such as sales, distribution, and maintenance, comprise a crucial element of business activity. A foreign firm faces a higher cost to perform such services than its domestic rival because of the lack of proximity to customers. We explore an international duopoly model in which a foreign firm can reduce its cost for post-production services by foreign direct investment (FDI), or alternatively can outsource such services to its domestic rival. Trade liberalization, if not accompanied by liberalization of service FDI, can hurt domestic consumers and decrease world welfare, but the negative welfare impacts can be mitigated and eventually turned into positive ones as service FDI is also liberalized. This finding yields important policy implications, given the reality that the progress of liberalization in service sectors is limited compared to the substantial progress already made in trade liberalization.post-production services, trade liberalization, FDI, outsourcing, international oligopoly

Strategic Investment in Electric Vehicle Charging Service:Fast Charging or Battery Swapping

With the increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), there is a growing need for public charging infrastructure. As a result, significant investments have been made in charging services, particularly, fast-charging (FC) and battery-swapping (BS) services. This paper examines the impact of technical and operational factors, as well as market conditions, on the pricing and profitability of each service to explore whether and how EV charging service providers should invest in these emerging charging services. The analysis with benchmark to private-use slow-charging (SC) services reveals that if the valley electricity price is high and the potential market size is small, lowering service costs does not make BS services a viable option. When the valley electricity price is low, reducing battery loss will not give FC services an advantage. However, in such scenarios, BS services can gain an edge by decreasing service costs. Interestingly, even if both SC and BS services are negatively affected by higher valley electricity prices, the impact on the profitability of BS services is more severe. Our results provide implications for the development of public EV charging service infrastructure. We recommend that implementing energy storage solutions can help alleviate the negative consequences of escalating valley electricity prices and wider peak–valley electricity price differences on BS services and FC services, respectively

Residential location model to minimize service delivery costs on the rural-urban fringe

The purpose of this study was to determine a least cost pattern of residential development in terms of the delivery of three services— sewers, solid waste pickup and primary and secondary education. West Knox County, Tennessee, was chosen as the general study area because of its rapid suburban growth and accessibility of data. Five tracts of land were selected as potential service demand sites. Fifteen service origins, including sewage treatment plants, primary/secondary schools, and a solid waste transfer station were designated. The primary means and procedures used in data assembly for this research involved economic engineering analysis. Data from the Knoxville- Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission were heavily relied upon, as well as data from the East Tennessee Development District and other local government agencies. Personal interviews also provided a major portion of needed information. A cost minimizing linear programming model was used to allocate population in a minimum cost residential pattern. The major findings of the research were that medium and high density residential development resulted in lowest cost of providing services. The difference in cost between medium and high density develop-ment was, in some instances, slight. Differences in family size between these two densities account for this situation. Average family size for medium density was three persons per dwelling which meant an average of 24 people per acre. Average family size for high density was 1.6 persons per dwelling, indicating an average of 25.6 persons per acre. Average cost would not differ a great deal under these circumstances if total costs are similar. The linear programming model has limited use for analyzing overall land-use problems. It can deal only with linear or straight line rela-tionships and with the quantitative aspects of a development problem. It worked in this research because the number of alternatives were small and the variables considered were limited to costs associated with three services—sewers, solid waste collection, and education. Policy makers at the local level might be able to use such research, however, to guide them in evaluating alternatives for residential development with respect to providing certain services. Policymakers need reliable data upon which to base land-use decisions. Budget information is necessary to determine the costs of various aspects of residential development on the rural-urban fringe. Partial budgets were developed in this research to use in a residential location model. Much more detailed budgets are needed, as well as information on the variables of density and family size. Future research should concentrate efforts in data collection and development of budgets. Once in possession of reliable information, researchers can develop mathematical models to analyze the information

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Early Childhood Intervention: Evidence from an Experimental Evaluation of the Incredible Years Parenting Program.

A number of researchers and policy makers have recently argued that the most effective way of dealing with long-run disadvantage and the intergenerational transmission of poverty is through early childhood intervention and in particular policies aimed at supporting the family. This study was part of a randomised evaluation of the Incredible Years Program, which is aimed at improving the skills and parenting strategies of parents who have children with conduct problems. The results show that the treatment significantly reduced behavioural problems in young children. Furthermore our detailed cost analysis, when combined with a consideration of the potential long-run benefits associated with the programme, suggest that the long-run rate of return to society from this program is likely to be relatively high.

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Early Childhood Intervention: Evidence from a Randomised Evaluation of a Parenting Programme

A number of researchers and policy makers have recently argued that the most effective way of dealing with long-run disadvantage and the intergenerational transmission of poverty is through early childhood intervention and in particular policies aimed at supporting the family in early childhood development. In this paper we carry out a randomised evaluation of one such programme aimed at improving the skills and parenting strategies of parents, particularly those who find their child's behaviour difficult or challenging. Our evaluation shows that the treatment significantly reduced behavioural problems in young children when measured 6 months after the intervention. Furthermore our detailed cost analysis, combined with a consideration of the potential long-run benefits associated with the programme, suggest that the long-run rate of return to society from this programme is likely to be relatively high.early intervention, parenting programme, randomised trial

Manufacturer Strategy on Service Provision in Competitive Channels

A manufacturer commonly distributes through a set of retailers who are authorized to sell its product; demand-enhancing services may also be provided by the manufacturer. These services may be granted to all authorized retailers (uniform service provision) or to a favored few authorized retailers (differential service provision). To determine when a manufacturer does—or does not—bestow equal service levels, we develop a model of one manufacturer selling through two competing retailers. We find manufacturer optimality to entail uniform service at some parametric values, while differential service is optimal at other values. Counterintuitively, with differential service, the recipient of lower service may be better off than it would be with higher service. Equally surprisingly, there are conditions for which the high-service retailer prefers its rival to also receive a high level of service—but only if its rival is sufficiently small. While the three channel members often have different service-provision preferences, there are also parametric values that place them in harmony with either differential or uniform service provision. Retailers sharing the cost of manufacturer-provided service need not lessen firms’ preference confliction over the preferred service provision but can improve channel efficiency when the cost-sharing rate is relatively low. We also investigate the effect of retailer-provided services and the impact of service asymmetry level