FDI Outflows from India: An Examination of the underlying Economics, Policies and their Impact

This paper discusses the trends in India's outward FDI over the last decade and then attempts to identify the driving factors for the same. The aim is to provide policy makers with insights regarding levers which would help in encouraging FDI outflows and to stimulate further research in foreign investment from emerging economies. The analysis is based on 287 instances of foreign investment from India by top Indian companies across 17 sectors. The paper draws on the "eclectic" paradigm to study the impact of ownership, location and internalization variables on India's foreign investment. A sector wise analysis of mode of entry, intent of entry and geographic concentration has been performed. At an aggregate level, it has been found that acquisitions have been the predominant mode of entry for Indian firms investing abroad and seeking new markets the primary intent of investment. A regression model was also developed to understand the impact and relative importance of owndership variables such as distribution system, need for resources, factor of production, post sales service requirement, presence of IP and brand on foreign investment from India. It was found that high distribution expenses and need for resources had a very positive influence on foreign investment. The paper also discusses the key policy changes that impacted outward FDI from India in the last decade and relationship of outward FDI with other macroeconomic indicators such as GDP and Fischer Open Differential.

Compliance Strategies under Permits for Emissions

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73704/1/j.1937-5956.2007.tb00294.x.pd

Product Design and Supply Chain Coordination Under Extended Producer Responsibility

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72335/1/j.1937-5956.2009.01018.x.pd

An Approach to Integrating Environmental Considerations Within Managerial Decision-Making

Recent environmental trends, including (1) an expansion of existing command and control directives, (2) the introduction of market-based policy instruments, and (3) the adoption of extended producer responsibility, have created a need for new tools to help managerial decision-making. To address this need, we develop a nonlinear mathematical programming model from a profit-maximizing firm's perspective, which can be tailored as a decision-support tool for firms facing environmental goals and constraints. We typify our approach using the specific context of diesel engine manufacturing and remanufacturing. Our model constructs are based on detailed interviews with top managers from two leading competitors in the medium and heavy-duty diesel engine industry. The approach allows the incorporation of traditional operations-planning considerations—in particular, capacity, production, and inventory—together with environmental considerations that range from product design through production to product end of life. A current hurdle to implementing such a model is the availability of input data. We therefore highlight the need not only to involve all departments within businesses but also for industrial ecologists and business managers to work together to implement meaningful decision models that are based on accurate and timely data and can have positive economic and environmental impact.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79144/1/JIEC_243_sm_SuppMat.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79144/2/j.1530-9290.2010.00243.x.pd

Personal assistant accessible via a telephone call

Techniques of the present disclosure provide a virtual personal assistant to users via a telephone call. The techniques are especially beneficial for users of feature phones, landline phones, shared phones such as pay phones, etc. A user can dial a telephone number for the virtual personal assistant and is recognized by the number they’re calling from. The user optionally provides a personal identification number (PIN). Once connected, the user can query the personal assistant for information and receive answers. Initially, when the user asks a question, the virtual personal assistant begins the interaction without having user context. With subsequent interactions, the virtual personal assistant learns the context, when user permits. The personal assistant can provide any type of information and interaction, e.g., language learning, music, banking, etc. The personal assistant can also interact with users via short message service (SMS)

Supply Chain Structure and Product Variety

Recent research lends credence to the belief that supply chain structure and product varietyare closely linked. We explore the effect of supply chain configuration on product variety, in a competitive setting. We treat both non-functional as well as functional variety, and for various supply chain configurations we examine equilibrium variety outcomes, assuming that the structure of the market can be represented by a static one-period model belonging to the class of Market Share Attraction Models.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39157/1/902.pd

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Remanufacturable Product Design

The paper explores optimal upstream design and price choices by uncoordinated and coordinated firms in response to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation. We model a single manufacturer supplying a remanufacturable, durable good to a single customer. We analytically investigate how various attributes of EPR, in terms of the magnitudes of environmental costs during product use and waste disposal costs post customer-use, the distribution of waste disposal costs between the manufacturer and the customer, design standards, and recovery/reuse requirements, influence upstream design choices of performance and remanufacturability by the manufacturer, given that the customer makes equipment replacement decisions optimally. We present contracts which can help coordinate the supply chain, since coordination results in environmentally superior product design as well as higher supply chain profit.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39171/1/1008.pd

Crystal structure of peptide-bound neprilysin reveals key binding interactions

Neprilysin (NEP) is a promiscuous zinc metalloprotease with broad substrate specificity and cleaves a remarkable diversity of substrates through endopeptidase action. Two of these – amyloid-β and natriuretic peptides – implicate the enzyme in both Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disease, respectively. Here, we report the creation of a catalytically inactive NEP (E584D) to determine the first peptide-bound crystal structure at 2.6 Å resolution. The structure reveals key interactions involved in substrate binding which we have identified to be conserved in other known zinc metalloproteases. In addition, the structure provides evidence for a potential exosite within the central cavity that may play a critical role in substrate positioning. Together, these results contribute to our understanding of the molecular function of NEP.</p

Inorganic phosphorus fractions and phosphorus availability in long term fertilizer cum manurial trials under coconut cultivation

Phosphorus is one of the major nutrients required for coconut production. The information about the fate of native and applied phosphorus in soil is essential for better management of the nutrient. The changes on inorganic P fractions and P availability in soil after 43 years of coconut cultivation were studied from a long term fertilizer cum manurial experiment at CPCRI, Kasaragod. There were 6 treatments viz. tillage with organic and inorganic fertilizer, tillage with inorganic fertilizer, inorganic fertilizers with basin forking, tillage alone, herbicide application without tillage and fertilizer and the control. Soil samples were taken at two depths (0-30 and 30-60 cm) from coconut basin for analysis. Phosphorus was fractionated into Easily Soluble P (ES-P), Aluminium P (AI-P), Iron P (Fe-P), Calcium P (Ca-P) and Reductant Soluble P (RS-P) through sequential extraction. The dominant phosphorus fraction in the coconut basin at 0-30 cm depth was Ca-P and the trend is as follows: Ca-P&gt; Fe-P&gt; RS-P&gt;Al-P&gt;ES-P. However, at 30-60 cm depth, Fe-P became the dominant fraction and the trend is Fe-P&gt;Ca-P&gt;RS-P&gt;Al-P&gt;ES-P. Long-term phosphorus fertilization would facilitate the accumulation of soil Ca-P, and thus improve soil P availability. In the interspaces, Fe-P was the dominating fraction in both the depths followed by Ca-P and RS-P. The difference in P fractions in fertilized and non-fertilized plots clearly showed that the fertilized plots have high content of all the inorganic phosphorus fractions in both the depths. Application of mineral P along with forking in basin showed a high concentration of all the inorganic P fractions compared to other fertilizer applied treatments