How competition controls team production: The case of fishing firms

Under team production, those who monitor individual productivity are usually the only ones compensated with a residual that varies with the performance of the team. This pattern is efficient, as is shown by the prevalence of conventional firms, except for small teams and when specialized monitoring is ineffective. Profit sharing in repeated team production induces all team members to take disciplinary action against underperformers through switching and separation decisions, however. Such action provides effective self-enforcemnt when the markets for team members are competitive, even for large teams using specialized monitoring. The traditional share system of fishing firms shows that for this competition to provide powerful enough incentives the costs of switching teams and measuring team productivity must be bellow. Risk allocation may constrain the organizational design defined by the use of a share system. It does not account for its existence, however.Theory of the firm, team production, share contracts, profit sharing, remuneration systems, self-enforcement, fishing firms

Switched-Current Chaotic Neurons

The Letter presents two nonlinear CMOS current-mode circuits that implement neuron soma equations for chaotic neural networks. They have been fabricated in a double-metal, single-poly 1.6µm CMOS technology. The neuron soma circuits use a novel, highly accurate CMOS circuit strategy to realise piecewise-linear characteristics in the current-mode domain. Their prototypes obtain reduced area and low voltage power supply (down to 3V) with a clock frequency of 500 kHz

CMOS current-mode chaotic neurons

This paper presents two nonlinear CMOS current-mode circuits that implement neuron soma equations for chaotic neural networks, and another circuit to realize programmable current-mode synapse using CMOS-compatible BJT's. They have been fabricated in a double-metal, single-poly 1.6 /spl mu/m CMOS technology and their measured performance reached the expected function and specifications. The neuron soma circuits use a novel, highly accurate CMOS circuit strategy to realize piecewise-linear characteristics in the current-mode domain. Their prototypes obtain reduced area and low voltage power supply (down to 3 V) with clock frequency of 500 kHz. As regard to the synapse circuit, it obtains large linearity and continuous, linear, weight adjustment by exploration of the exponential-law operation of CMOS-BJT's. The full accordance observed between theory and measurements supports the development of future analog VLSI chaotic neural networks to emulate biological systems and advanced computation

Integrated chaos generators

This paper surveys the different design issues, from mathematical model to silicon, involved on the design of integrated circuits for the generation of chaotic behavior.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología 1FD97-1611(TIC)European Commission ESPRIT 3110

CMOS design of chaotic oscillators using state variables: a monolithic Chua's circuit

This paper presents design considerations for monolithic implementation of piecewise-linear (PWL) dynamic systems in CMOS technology. Starting from a review of available CMOS circuit primitives and their respective merits and drawbacks, the paper proposes a synthesis approach for PWL dynamic systems, based on state-variable methods, and identifies the associated analog operators. The GmC approach, combining quasi-linear VCCS's, PWL VCCS's, and capacitors is then explored regarding the implementation of these operators. CMOS basic building blocks for the realization of the quasi-linear VCCS's and PWL VCCS's are presented and applied to design a Chua's circuit IC. The influence of GmC parasitics on the performance of dynamic PWL systems is illustrated through this example. Measured chaotic attractors from a Chua's circuit prototype are given. The prototype has been fabricated in a 2.4- mu m double-poly n-well CMOS technology, and occupies 0.35 mm/sup 2/, with a power consumption of 1.6 mW for a +or-2.5-V symmetric supply. Measurements show bifurcation toward a double-scroll Chua's attractor by changing a bias current

Design considerations for integrated continuous-time chaotic oscillators

This paper presents an optimization procedure to choose the chaotic state equation which is best suited for implementation using Gm-C integrated circuit techniques. The paper also presents an analysis of the most significant hardware nonidealities of Gm-C circuits on the chaotic operation-the basis to design robust integrated circuits with reproducible and easily controllable behavior. The techniques in the paper are illustrated through a circuit fabricated in 2.4-/iin double-poly technology.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología TIC 96-1392-CO2-

Determinants of organizational form: Transaction costs and institutions in the European trucking industry

We explain why European trucking carriers are much smaller and rely more heavily on owner-operators (as opposed to employee drivers) than their US counterparts. Our analysis begins by ruling out differences in technology as the source of those disparities and confirms that standard hypotheses in organizational economics, which have been shown to explain the choice of organizational form in US industry, also apply in Europe. We then argue that the preference for subcontracting over vertical integration in Europe is the result of European institutions—particularly, labor regulation and tax laws—that increase the costs of vertical integration.Transaction costs, governance, hybrids, transportation

Quasi-integration in less-than-truckload trucking

This work studies the organization of less-than-truckload trucking from a contractual point of view. We show that the huge number of owner-operators working in the industry hides a much less fragmented reality. Most of those owner-operators are “quasi-integrated” in higher organizational structures. This hybrid form is generally more efficient than vertical integration because, in the Spanish institutional environment, it lessens serious moral hazard problems, related mainly to the use of the vehicles, and makes it possible to reach economies of scale and density. Empirical evidence suggests that what leads organizations to vertically integrate is not the presence of such economies but hold-up problems, related to the existence of specific assets. Finally, an international comparison hints that institutional constraints are able to explain differences in the evolution of vertical integration across countries.Hold-up, hybrids, institutions, moral hazard, vertical integration, trucking industry