The Potential of Servicizing as a Green Business Model

It has been argued that servicizing business models, under which a firm sells the use of a product rather than the product itself, are environmentally beneficial. The main arguments are: First, under servicizing the firm charges customers based on the product usage. Second, the quantity of products required to meet customer needs may be smaller because the firm may be able to pool customer needs. Third, the firm may have an incentive to offer products with higher efficiency. Motivated by these arguments, we investigate the economic and environmental potential of servicizing business models. We endogenize the firm's choice between a pure sales, a pure servicizing, and a hybrid model with both sales and servicizing options, the pricing decisions and, the resulting customer usage. We consider two extremes of pooling efficacy, viz., no versus strong pooling. We find that under no pooling servicizing leads to higher environmental impact due to production but lower environmental impact due to use. In contrast, under strong pooling, when a hybrid business model is more profitable, it is also environmentally superior. However, a pure servicizing model is environmentally inferior for high production costs as it leads to a larger production quantity even under strong pooling. We also examine the product efficiency choice and find that the firm offers higher efficiency products only under servicizing models with strong pooling

Economic Freedom and Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America: A Panel Gravity Model Approach

This paper employs a panel data gravity model to examine the impact of economic freedom (EF) on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the context of Latin American countries. Our results suggest that while FDI responds to many EF measures positively, such results cannot be generalised.Economic freedom, FDI, Latin America, panel gravity model.

To Sell and to Provide? The Economic and Environmental Implications of the Auto Manufacturer's Involvement in the Car Sharing Business

Motivated by the involvement of Daimler and BMW in the car sharing business we consider an OEM who contemplates introducing a car sharing program. The OEM designs its product line by accounting for the trade-off between driving performance and fuel efficiency. Customers have different valuations of driving performance and decide whether to buy, join car sharing, or rely on their outside option. Car sharing can increase the profit from selling. This happens when the OEM prefers to serve the lower-end customers through car sharing and the higher-end through selling. In this case, car sharing increases the efficiency of the vehicles used for the lower-end, and the price charged to the higher-end customers. This is more pronounced for higher-end OEMs, which may help explain Daimler's and BMW's involvement in car sharing. Despite the higher efficiency, car sharing may lower the OEM's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) level even when it increases profit and decreases environmental impact. CAFE levels better reflect the environmental benefits of car sharing when they are based on the number of customers served and not the production volume. Finally, if anticipating aggressive CAFE standards, OEMs may include car sharing to better absorb the increase in the production cost

Photoassociation to the 2(1)Sigma(g)(+) state in ultracold 85Rb2 in the presence of a shape resonance

We report the first observation of photoassociation to the 2(1)Sigma(g)(+) state of 85Rb2 . We have observed two vibrational levels (v'=98, 99) below the 5s1/2+5p1/2 atomic limit and eleven vibrational levels (v'=102-112) above it. The photoassociation---and subsequent spontaneous emission---occur predominantly between 15 and 20 Bohr in a region of internuclear distance best described as a transition between Hund's case (a) and Hund's case (c) coupling. The presence of a g-wave shape resonance in the collision of two ground-state atoms affects the photoassociation rate and lineshape of the J'= 3 and 5 rotational levels.Comment: to appear in PR

Movilidad de elementos químicos durante la milonitización del granito San Cristóbal, Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina

En el extremo sudeste de la Sierra de Velasco, al oeste de la ciudad de La Rioja, Argentina, se desarrolla una faja de cizalla denominada Faja Milonítica Sur, como consecuencia de una deformación de carácter dúctil del plutón granítico San Cristóbal en condiciones de facies esquistos verdes. En este trabajo se evalúa la movilización de elementos químicos en esta zona de cizalla durante el proceso de milonitización. Utilizando una isocona Nb-Ti-Zr, se pudo calcular una pérdida de volumen aproximado del 30% en la roca deformada respecto del protolito. Zr, Ti, Fe, Mn y Nb habrían permanecido en el sistema prácticamente sin cambios mientras que se habría producido un empobrecimiento en SiO2, K, Na, Rb, Ba, Sr, Mg, Y y Ni y un enriquecimiento en Ca, Cr y P. Esto es coherente con cier tas observaciones petrográficas tales como hidrólisis del feldespato potásico, retrogradación de plagioclasa a clinozoisita y albita, neoformación de muscovita y calcita, incremento en biotita y variaciones modales de minerales accesorios.Element mobility during Mylonitization of the San Cristóbal granite, Southeast of the Sierra de Velasco, Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina”. At southeastern tip of the Sierra de Velasco, western of La Rioja, Argentina, Granitic rocks of San Cristobal pluton are deformed into mylonites, developing a ductile shear zone, called Faja Milonítica Sur, under green schists facies conditions. The mobilization of chemical elements in this shear zone during mylonitization is evaluated in this paper. Using the Nb-Ti-Zr isocon, a volume loss of 30% is calculated. Zr, Ti, Fe, Mn and Nb are relatively immobile, SiO2, K, Na, Rb, Ba, Sr, Mg, Y and Ni are lost, and Ca, Cr, and P are enriched. This is consistent with petrographic studies that show K-feldspar hydrolysis, plagioclase retrogradation to clinozoisite and albite, muscovite neoformation, biotite incremented and modal variations of accessory minerals.Fil: Bellos, Laura Iudith. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Conicet- Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: López, José Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Conicet- Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentin

Controlling flexible structures with second order actuator dynamics

The control of flexible structures for those systems with actuators that are modeled by second order dynamics is examined. Two modeling approaches are investigated. First a stability and performance analysis is performed using a low order finite dimensional model of the structure. Secondly, a continuum model of the flexible structure to be controlled, coupled with lumped parameter second order dynamic models of the actuators performing the control is used. This model is appropriate in the modeling of the control of a flexible panel by proof-mass actuators as well as other beam, plate and shell like structural numbers. The model is verified with experimental measurements