Measuring competition using the Boone relative profit difference indicator

This paper suggests a method for implementing the theoretical relative profit difference test for intensity of competition due to Boone (2008). An empirical illustration is given for banking systems in emerging economies

Disentangling the European airlines efficiency puzzle: a network data envelopment analysis approach

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. In recent years the European airline industry has undergone critical restructuring. It has evolved from a highly regulated market predominantly operated by national airlines to a dynamic, liberalized industry where airline firms compete freely on prices, routes, and frequencies. Although several studies have analyzed performance issues for European airlines using a variety of efficiency measurement methods, virtually none of them has considered two-stage alternatives - not only in this particular European context but in the airline industry in general. We extend the aims of previous contributions by considering a network Data Envelopment Analysis (network DEA) approach which comprises two sub-technologies that can share part of the inputs. Results show that, in general, most of the inefficiencies are generated in the first stage of the analysis. However, when considering different types of carriers several differences emerge - most of the low-cost carriers' inefficiencies are confined to the first stage. Results also show a dynamic component, since performance differed across types of airlines during the decade 2000-2010

Novel Approaches for State of Charge Modeling in Battery Management Systems

One of the key steps of any battery management system design is the representation of the open circuit voltage (OCV) as a function of the state of charge (SOC). The OCV-SOC relationship is very non-linear that is often represented using a polynomial that has log and inverse terms that are not defined around SOC equal to zero or one. The traditional response to this problem was only at the software level. In this thesis, I present a formal scaling approach to the OCV-SOC characterization in Li-ion batteries. I show that, through formal modeling and optimization, the traditional approach to OCV-SOC modeling can be significantly improved by selecting the proper value of $\epsilon$. When the proposed technique is used a decrease in the maximum SOC error of 9\% is reported. The proposed approach is tested on data collected from multiple cells over various temperatures for OCV-SOC characterization and the results are presented. State-space model (SSM) and the Kalman filter have several applications in the emerging areas of automation and data science including in battery SOC estimation. In many such applications, the application of Kalman filtering requires model identification with the help of the observed data. I present the formulas with derivations for linear state-space model parameter estimation using the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. Particularly, I derive the formulas for different special SSM cases of practical interest, such as the continuous white noise acceleration (CWNA) model. Through simulation, I show the benefits of these derivations for the special models in comparison with the generalized approach

How a regulatory capital requirement affects banks' productivity: an application to emerging economies

© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York. This paper presents a novel approach to measure efficiency and productivity decomposition in the banking systems of emerging economies with a special focus on the role of equity capital. We model the requirement to hold levels of a fixed input, i.e. equity, above the long run equilibrium level or, alternatively, to achieve a target equity-asset ratio. To capture the effect of this under-leveraging, we allow the banking system to operate in an uneconomic region of the technology. Productivity decomposition is developed to include exogenous factors such as policy constraints. We use a panel data set of banks in emerging economies during the financial upheaval period of 2005–2008 to analyse these ideas. Results indicate the importance of the capital constraint in the decomposition of productivity

Novel Process for Designing Topology Optimized Femoral Stems Printable by Metal Additive Manufacturing

Total hip arthroplasty faces an issue of the high cost and risks of revision surgeries. Studies show that more than 50% of the revision surgeries are the consequence of the aseptic loosening of the implant. The cause of the loosening is the bone resorption during the bone remodeling due to poor load transfer to the bone because of the stiff metal used for the implant. The aim of this work is illustrating a novel process of designing topology optimized femoral stems printable by additive manufacturing to increase the load transfer. The proposed manual penalization process is used to produce the required stems followed by a multiple simulations process to select the optimum stem extraction iso-surface threshold value. The results show printable stems that increased the strain energy in the bone by 20% and had better micromotions uniform distribution resulting in more uniform bone growth

The Integration of Information Technology Skills in Accounting Curriculum at Public Universities in Egypt

Professional and academic accountants have debated the issue of integration of information technology (IT) skills in accounting during the past three decades. However, the majority of prior studies are very descriptive in nature and lack a theoretical background. Most of these studies investigated the issue of Required IT skills and Integrated IT skills in different settings. Prior studies also investigated the issue separately, either from the perspective of professional or academic accountants. Based on information processing theory and task-technology fit, this study investigated the alignment (IT Alignment) between Required IT skills and Integrated IT skills in a single setting. It also examined factors that influence IT Alignment. Data were collected from 249 accounting lecturers in public universities in Egypt, who were also practicing accountants. Survey was mailed out in March 2011, and response rate was 69.02%. Descriptive statistics indicated that the top 5 Required IT were generalized audit software, embedded audit modules/real-time modules, word- processing, small business accounting software, and electronic spreadsheets, while the top 5 Integrated IT were word processing, electronic spreadsheets, electronic presentations, database search and retrieval, and test data. Using a matching approach, the top 5 most aligned variables were word-processing, electronic spreadsheets, electronic presentations, internal network configurations, and database search and retrieval. Thirty-five hypotheses were then tested to examine factors that influenced IT Alignment. Results of multiple regressions suggested that market need played a major role in influencing the IT alignment. Other factors included financial resources, university/faculty support, interest and attitude toward the IT integration. This study has deepened current understanding of IT integration into accounting and has provided useful insights for Deans of Faculty of Accountancy in planning their IT integration. More importantly, the study also opens up possibilities for further study of IT integration, both in Egypt and around the globe

Political connections, bailout in financial markets and firm value

The paper shows that politically motivated interventions in the financial market in the form of bailing out borrowing firms reduce banks’ incentives to gather valuable information about firms’ projects. This loss of information is a hidden cost which adversely affects firm value. Firms invest resources and pay a premium to politically connected persons (BOD or other personnel). Such connections serve the twin purposes of hedging and enhancement of the value of collateral pledged against bank loans. Feeling secured, banks lose incentives to monitor borrowing firms. Thus, wealth effect of bailout from political connection is partially offset by the losses of valuable information brought about by bank lending. In equilibrium, the trade-off from gains out of political connections and costs due to losses from information-based bank monitoring depend on (i) the country’s disclosure laws, (ii) the political environment, (iii) the premium paid to form connections, and (iv) the state of the economy