The Role of Comparative Productivity Accounting in Export Decisions

This paper explores the importance of comparative productivity accounting and productivity-based analysis in export decisions at the firm level. The structure of the relationships between productivity ratios, input prices, scale effects, demand patterns, and exchange rates is developed within the context of a simple macroeconomic model. This framework is extended to encompass comparative productivity and cost analysis across international markets, and to derive conditions for export profitability under different market structures. Subsequently, the role of relative productivities in relation to other market and monetary variables is explored in detail using retrospective case study illustrations. Finally, the managerial implications of a productivity-based approach to export decisions are discussed.© 1984 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1984) 15, 105–118

Country/Service Bundling in International Tourism: Criteria for the Selection of an Efficient Bundle Mix and Allocation of Joint Revenues

This paper addresses key aspects of commodity bundling decisions in business enterprises both in general and as they relate to the International Tourism industry in particular. The considerable importance and complexity of bundle mix and bundle pricing decisions on the transportation, sightseeing, and resort level of Tourism are discussed. The authors develop the basic theoretical structure and framework underlying bundling decisions and define key elements of required decision information. The complexity of the determination of optimal bundling mixes in a multiservice environment is demonstrated, and an algorithm which greatly facilitates such determination under certain assumptions is outlined and discussed. Finally, the problem of allocating joint bundle profits among associated profit or cost centers is reviewed in detail. A number of alternative allocation criteria based on commonly acceptable notions of bargaining power and fairness are proposed. Their relevance and applicability to international tourism and tourist enterprises are discussed.© 1979 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1979) 10, 37–50

Productivity-based financial net income analysis

This paper develops the analytical framework for a productivity based financial analysis, which has been successfully introduced by the authors as standard reporting in a major corporation. This analysis is designed to broaden and supplement conventional income statement analysis. It partitions expense and revenue items into their respective price and quantity components and establishes the precise relationship between total factor productivity performance and key aspects of financial performance. The underlying theory is reviewed. Subsequently, an actual case study example is analyzed. Some of the major additional insights into factors affecting the economic health of a productive enterprise and their implications for corrective actions are illustrated and discussed.

Optimal Resource Allocation Between Spot and Package Demands

This paper deals with the problem of allocating fixed resources between two types of demands; (a) spot demand; and (b) package (subscription) demand---demand that is satisfied by selling usage rights over a prespecified time period prior to actual consumption. In Model 1, a probabilistic spot demand for a single resource, stationary over time, is assumed together with externally determined spot and package pricing. It is shown that the optimal (profit maximizing) policy is to sell all the packages in the first period and the optimal number of packages to offer is derived. Model 1 is extended to the case when the package offers rights to any one of a number M of resources at a given time; similar conclusions are obtained. In Model 2, package price is considered to be a decision variable. It is shown that the optimal price should be monotonically nondecreasing over time, implying that the number of packages offered for sale each period will not increase over time. Finally, managerial uses of the proposed models for entertainment, leisure and tourist services are reviewed.marketing, marketing: pricing