A lower order element for the linear elasticity problem in 3D

This paper constructs a lower order mixed finite element for the linear elasticity problem in 3D. The discrete stresses are piecewise cubic polynomials, and the discrete displacements are discontinuous piecewise quadratic polynomials. The continuity of the discrete stress space is characterized by moving all the edge degrees of freedom of the analogous Hu-Zhang stress element for $P_3$ [Hu, Zhang, Sci. Math. China, 2015, Hu, J. Comput. Math., 2015] to the faces. The macro-element technique is used to define an interpolation operator for proving the discrete stability

Carbon tax or cap-and-trade: Which is more viable for Chinese remanufacturing industry?

The debate between cap-and-trade and carbon tax, two major carbon emission reduction mechanisms to deal with global warming, has been going on for years unsettled. The strategy to implement one of them or both is by far mainly addressed at the national level, and there is a need to customize the policy-making for different sectors, especially the emerging remanufacturing industry that has the great potential to reduce material and energy consumptions. Based on a closed-loop supply chain model, this study analyzes the tradeoffs between carbon tax and cap-and-trade with a series of numerical studies. While keeping carbon emissions under control, cap-and-trade demonstrates a better fit to remanufacturing: its performances on manufacturer profit, social welfare, and consumer surplus surpass carbon tax’ in nine, eight, and six out of nine groups respectively. Only when the carbon quota level is too high, the cap-and-trade is possible to lose. In addition, this study examines two government-to-enterprise-subsidy strategies, direct subsidy and policy bias, and find both helpful but almost no difference in their impacts. The findings yield useful insights into the industry-wise design of carbon emission reduction mechanisms for remanufacturing and similar sectors

DEFINITION AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE CORE COMPETENCE IN REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY

The real estate is a very high risk profession. Its funds devotion is big, the operation period is long and the market change quickly. At the same time, the real estate has to face the high level competition that brought by international capital investment. The key to deal with these problems is how to set up and enhance the core competence of the real estate industry while integrating the strategic resources. In this paper we will analyze the features of core competence, thus define the core competence in real estate Industry. The main competition factors of real estate industry include land resources, capital scale and market management. Accordingly, we put forward the solution to establish the core competence of real estate industry. Key words: Core competence, Real estate, Investmen

Flexible versus simple trade-in strategy for remanufacturing

Some enterprises recently start to offer the flexible trade-in option to attract customers from competitors, in contrast to the simple one that only allows them to return used products to the same manufacturers for new. Based on analytical and numerical analyses, this study compares the environmental impacts of two trade-in strategies (simple versus flexible) in combination with different carbon tax policies. From the perspective of consumer switching behaviour, a Hotelling model with two market segments is established. Under the flexible trade-in strategy, the carbon emission of enterprises turns out to be significantly higher than that under the simple trade-in strategy. An appropriate carbon tax policy, especially with preferential tax rates on green products, is capable of guiding enterprises to choose a more environment-friendly trade-in strategy included in the model. The findings fill the research gap in comparing the pros and cons of simple and flexible trade-in strategies in terms of sustainable development, and provide managers and policy-makers the insights on how to promote the healthy development of the remanufacturing industry with trade-in strategizing and carbon taxation

Sharing economy of electric vehicle private charge posts

The increasing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) leads to heightened demand for the charging infrastructure. More and more EV drivers install private charge posts, which can now be shared with others through certain mobile apps. This emerging phenomenon is becoming a prominent part of the sharing economy. To examine the impacts of post sharing on EV charging market, this study establishes game theory models on consumer choices among private, public, and shared options. Such peer-to-peer sharing and collaborative consumption redistribute the installation and operation costs of private charge posts in proportion to their increased utilization. Numerical analyses suggest that the sharing mode provides a win-win solution for charge post owners and non-owner consumers, as well as electricity distributors and public charging infrastructure operators. In the case of China, the estimated saving for charge post owners is between 20% and 50%, which can be translated into more non-government investment in the EV industry chain. The findings provide supporting evidence for policy-makers to promote private charge post sharing, especially with certain consumer subsidization at a reasonable level

Exempting battery electric vehicles from traffic restrictions: Impacts on market and environment under Pigovian taxation

In busy metropolitan areas, traffic restrictions based on the last digits of license plates effectively ease traffic jams and improve air quality. Recently, policy-makers in China exempted battery electric vehicles (BEV) from traffic restrictions to promote their diffusion in place of conventional vehicles (CV). To examine the impacts of such an exemption on consumers and manufacturers as well as the environment, this study models the duopoly competition between BEV and CV manufacturers as a Cournot game. The numerical analyses compare three traffic restriction policies concerning BEV and CV, and reveal the pros and cons of each. In particular, the BEV-exempted policy promotes customer adoption, industry development, and environment protection with the least consumer surplus loss. As supplementary measures, relevant vehicle purchase tax and carbon tax may make such a policy more effective, respectively, in short and long terms