bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Testing the impact of inflation targeting on inflation
Authors: Tawadros George B. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of inflation targeting on inflation for 27 countries that have adopted an inflation‐targeting regime.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses intervention analysis in Harvey's structural time series model to analyse the impact of inflation targeting on inflation, using quarterly observations. This approach provides the most useful framework for separating changes that occur to a series ordinarily over time from those happening due to exogenous events identified a priori, such as inflation targeting.FindingsThe empirical evidence suggests that almost all of the central banks that have pursued this strategy have been unsuccessful at controlling inflation, with the results indicating that the adoption of an inflation‐targeting regime has had the perverse effect on inflation for almost every country.Practical implicationsThe implication of the finding is that central banks which have adopted an inflation‐targeting regime do not appear to have been particularly successful in reducing inflation in any significant way, as is regularly claimed in the extant literature.Originality/valueThe paper provides further evidence against the adoption of an inflation‐targeting regime using an unconventional approach for 27 countries that are regarded as “fully‐fledged” inflation‐targeting countries.
Equilibrium efficiency in the Ramsey model with utility and production externalities
Authors: Gómez Manuel A. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of utility and production externalities on the equilibrium efficiency, and to devise tax policies capable of correcting the distortions caused by the external effects.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyzes a Ramsey‐type model with utility and production externalities. It compares the decentralized equilibrium in the market economy with the optimal growth path attainable by a central planner.FindingsThe paper shows the effects of utility and production externalities on competitive long‐run equilibrium values. It devises optimal tax policies capable of decentralizing the optimal growth path, and shows how the leisure specification affects the optimal tax policy.Practical implicationsThe paper adds to the literature on optimal taxation, and provides theoretical results that may help policy makers to set the tax policy.Originality/valueThe paper analyzes the equilibrium efficiency in a rather general model with utility externalities, associated with both consumption and leisure, and production externalities. Equilibrium efficiency is studied under the two typical leisure specifications proposed in the literature: home production and raw time. This allows one to analyze the effect that the leisure specification has on the optimal tax policy.
Economic interdependence and bilateral trade imbalance across the Taiwan Strait
Authors: Chiu Yi‐Bin , Sun Chia‐Hung 
Published: October 2009

PurposeDespite a growing interest in research, no existing study explores the nature of, and the relationship between, the real exchange rate and trade imbalance between Taiwan and China. These economies were admitted to the World Trade Organization in late 2001 (China) and in January 2002 (Taiwan). This study aims to redress this deficiency.Design/methodology/approachUsing Johansen's cointegration approach and bilateral trade data, the study reveals overwhelming evidence of a stable long‐run relationship of the real exchange rate and bilateral trade balance between Taiwan and its trading partners: China, the USA, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.FindingsThe evidence indicates that the currency depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar improves Taiwan's bilateral trade balance, except with China.Originality/valueThe findings imply that Taiwan cannot resolve the cross‐Strait trade imbalance alone via the currency depreciation, and macroeconomic adjustments, including application of the WTO rules, currency exchange and imports of Chinese goods, need to be negotiated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Optimal tax and expenditure policies in a market economy with life‐cycle savings
Authors: Zee Howell H. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate whether the concept of the golden rule of capital accumulation is an applicable normative guidepost for a market economy even in the absence of the distortions usually associated with income and consumption taxes.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a simple two‐period overlapping generations model with productive public and private capital.FindingsAs long as the government is subject to some instrument limitation that constrains its ability to effect non‐distortive optimal inter‐generational income redistributions, the market optimum for capital accumulation would generally deviate from the golden rule towards either side of the rule.Originality/valueThe paper provides a transparent characterization of the nature of the optimal deviation from the golden rule in terms of easily interpretable consumption and production parameters.
Transaction costs, productive efficiency and financial account management
Authors: Saygili Hülya 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThis study investigates functional equivalence between entering money into transaction costs that appears in firms' cost functions and the money in the production function. In light of this model, the purpose of the study is to show the impact of financial account management in general on productive efficiency.Design/methodology/approachA stochastic production frontier approach is applied to estimate production and technical efficiency model jointly to analyse the effect of alternative financial instruments on the productive efficiency of 12 EU countries.FindingsThe results suggest that the growth performance of these countries is partly explained by the changes in productive efficiency, and that the efficiency is not independent of financial account management.Originality/valueThe contribution of this study to the literature is two‐fold. First, it analyses the meaning of transaction costs in production and its consequences for productive inefficiency theoretically. Second, it tests the significance of financial account management as an instrument to deal with transaction costs in production.
Profits of horizontally interrelated firms with dividend obligations
Authors: Temurshoev Umed 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to solve the problem of overestimation of industry profits due to the presence of cross‐shareholding (CS) links among firms that is inherent to the profit formulations in existing literature.Design/methodology/approachIn proposing a new profits specification, we explicitly distinguish between firms' profits (retained earnings) and their external shareholders' returns. Matrix algebra is used to take into full account both direct and indirect financial interests of firms in each other.FindingsCompared to no the CS case, with CS firms' industry‐wide retained earnings increase, while aggregate external shareholders' returns decrease unless dividend ratios are all unity. It is shown that qualitatively there is no difference in the outcomes of all profit specifications, whereas there is a quantitative difference.Research limitations/implicationsThe pattern of CS is taken as exogenous, which looks at the problem from an antitrust perspective. Endogenizing the structure of CS is left for future research.Practical implicationsFirms have incentives to engage in CS links, since they can only benefit from it. In empirical research (e.g. analyzing market performance) dividend payments have to be taken into account if there are extensive CS links present in the industry under study.Originality/valueThis paper extends the existing profit formulations by including both income inflows and outflows of firms due to CS links. Furthermore, the significance of considering dividend payments for empirical research is discussed.
An empirical analysis of the informational efficiency of Australian equity markets
Authors: Hatemi‐J Abdulnasser , Morgan Bryan 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the Australian equity market is informationally efficient in the semi‐strong form with regard to interest rates and the exchange rate shocks during the period 1994‐2006.Design/methodology/approachThere is evidence that the data are non‐normal and that autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) effects exist and in such circumstances, standard estimation methods are not reliable. A new method introduced by Hacker and Hatemi‐J which is robust to non‐normality and the presence of ARCH is applied.FindingsThe results show the Australian equity market is not informationally efficient with regard to either the interest rate or the exchange rate.Originality/valueThe empirical findings, in contrast to several previous studies, imply that the possibility for arbitrage profits in the equity market might exist.
Skill differentiation between formal and informal employment
Authors: Mattos Enlinson , Ogura Laudo M. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the existence of skill differentiation between formal and informal labor markets.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a theoretical model is developed under the assumption that concealment of production is increasingly costly for informal firms. Second, using data on the Brazilian self‐employed economy, two methods are utilized to compare earnings in the formal versus the informal economy: propensity score and instrumental variable (IV) methods. For the IV estimations, state‐level variables are used as instruments for individual's decisions. In addition, the effect of schooling on formality choice is analyzed.FindingsThe theoretical model implies that more productive firms tend to operate formally and the proportion of workers employed by formal firms is larger for higher skilled workers. In the empirical analysis, it is found that formal firms are more productive than informal firms, controlling for workers' characteristics, and that higher workers' skill increase the probability of formal operation, as predicted by the theoretical model.Originality/valueThe paper provides an original theoretical model of skill differentiation in labor markets and empirically evaluates the implications of the model.
Entropy estimation and interpretation of the inter‐sectoral linkages of Turkish economy based on Leontief input/output model
Authors: Özçam Ahmet 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address an econometric procedure which revises and updates the technical production coefficients of latest Turkish input/output (I/O) table, as new information about sectoral productions become available.Design/methodology/approachBoth maximum entropy (ME) method, which estimates the technical production coefficients directly, and cross entropy (CE) estimation method using the Turkish 1996 I/O table as prior information are considered. Moreover, some linkage measures both traditional and relatively new ones are calculated and interpreted using the same data.FindingsUnder squared error measure criterion, CE estimation method using the Turkish 1996 I/O table as prior information gives a better statistical fit than the ME method which estimates the coefficients directly. Also, Dietzenbacher and van der Linden method's linkage values are found to be in between those of the Chenery and Watanabe, and the Rasmussen methods for both backward or forward definitions using the Turkish data.Research limitations/implicationsThere still remains the job of collecting information about sectoral productions in the year where updating the latest I/O table is to be undertaken in order to complete the design to be used in practice. This paper suggests this vector to be estimated using some proxy or instrumental variables approaches as a topic for further research.Practical implicationsDuring the last ten years in Turkey, the five‐year state development plans losing their traditional importance and the free markets replacing them may have partly accounted for the highly infrequent constructions of such tables. However, academic researches continue to use them as a basis, and therefore an updating of the latest table using an econometric approach such as that of the paper may be necessary.Originality/valueIf in practice the preparation of a new I/O table is costly and/or difficult without a political need, then an updating scheme may be valuable.
Measuring the assembly quality from the operator mistake view: a case study
Authors: Su Qiang , Liu Lei , Lai Shengjie 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on the assembly quality of copier products, specifically, concentrating on the prediction of the operator‐induced assembly defect.Design/methodology/approachBased on the Shibata model, the design‐based assembly complexity is redesigned. And the Sony Standard Time is replaced by the Fuji Xerox Standard Time in the calculation of the process‐based assembly complexity. Furthermore, different correlation functions are attempted and comparatively studied in the regression analysis. Thereby, a new defect rate prediction model is proposed and validated with three copier assembly cases.FindingsThe new proposed model is much more accurate and stable in the human‐induced assembly defect prediction in copier production.Practical implicationsThe proposed model can be used to ensure the assembly quality by removing potential defects at the structure and process design stages. Meanwhile, with this model, the interactions between the engineers and designers can be more effective.Originality/valueThis paper presents a novel assembly defect rate prediction model for copier assembly quality management.
Disassembly processes with disassembly matrices and effects of operations
Authors: Mao Huang Yuan , Liao Yu‐Chung 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to enhance the method developed by previous researchers. In addition to using the combined interference matrix, the combined connection matrix and the combined contact matrix of product components, the disassembly sequence matrix and the combined instability matrix with platform to evaluate instability of sub‐assemblies are built, and effects of changes of sub‐assembly disassembly directions or tools and the effect of gravity are considered to obtain the best disassembly sequence for a product with many components. A computer program is generated and results of two cases are compared with those of the available studies.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology includes the combined interference matrix, the combined contact matrix and the combined connection matrix of components for a product. The combined instability matrix of sub‐assemblies, changes of sub‐assembly disassembly direction or tools, and the effect of gravity during operation are considered. The binary number system is used to simplify relations among components of a product.FindingsThis methodology enhances the existing method and software is generated. Results of two cases are compared and show the same optimum disassembly processes as those obtained from other researchers.Research limitations/implicationsAll matrices are defined by the directions of x, y and z with three axes perpendicular to each other. The computer program generated cannot be used for a product with components that must be disassembled in the directions different from the axes.Practical implicationsTwo cases are used to investigate feasibility of the proposed methodology with the computer program generated. The first one is an electric drill, and the second one is a flash lighter.Originality/valueThe methodology described in this paper is feasible for study of disassembly processes of products. The software generated can be used to obtain the optimum disassembly process of products.
Sensor placement strategy for fixture variation diagnosis of compliant sheet metal assembly process
Authors: Jin Sun , Yu Kuigang , Lai Xinmin , Liu Yinhua 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on optimal sensor placement for the fixture variation diagnosis of compliant sheet metal assembly process. Fixture variations are the main sources for complex automotive body dimensional failures. An effective measurement strategy can help exactly and timely diagnose these fixture variations. Research on sensor placement strategy of compliant sheet metal assembly process is not much stated formerly.Design/methodology/approachThe impact principle of fixture variations is analyzed to set up the relationship between the assembly variation and fixture variations applying the method of influence coefficients and the effective independence (EI) method is used to find the optimal sensor positions based on the impact principle analysis of fixture variations.FindingsThe obtained fixture variation sensitivity matrix describes the influence of fixture variations to compliant sheet metal assembly variation and can be used for diagnosing fixture variations. The EI method can effectively solve the optimal sensor positions for compliant sheet metal assembly by a case demonstration.Originality/valueThe proposed method can solve the sensor placement of online assembly station for diagnosing fixture variations. It takes the compliant characteristics of sheet metal parts into account and the sensor information has much greater diagnosability than that from applying other methods.
An expert system for automatic design‐for‐assembly
Authors: Sanders David , Chai Tan Yong , Rogers Ian , Tewkesbury Giles E. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a multi‐expert system that can provide designers with suggestions for improvement. The multi‐expert system can analyse a design and provide designers with ideas for changes to designs at an early stage in order to improve assembly later in the manufacturing process.Design/methodology/approachThe whole system consists of four expert systems: computer‐aided design (CAD) expert, automated assembly expert, manual assembly expert and design analysis expert. The design analysis expert includes a sub‐system to collate the information from the assembly experts and to provide costs and advice.FindingsThe paper finds that the approach and the systems can reduce manufacturing costs and lead times.Research limitations/implicationsA knowledge‐based reckoning approach to design‐for‐assembly automation is used. The approach and systems can reduce manufacturing costs and lead times. The system can estimate assembly time and cost for manual or automatic assembly and select suitable assembly techniques.Practical implicationsThe system can estimate assembly time and cost for manual or automatic assembly and select a suitable assembly technique.Originality/valueThe new system models assembly, product and process design using a natural approach for capturing intelligence. The new approach categorised automated assembly and manual assembly into separate individual experts. Intelligence and knowledge from each is captured and embedded within the individual expert that represented the process. This approach enabled greater flexibility and made the sub‐systems easier to modify, upgrade, extend and reuse.
Interview with Michael Dunn
Authors: by Ruth Young Interview 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present an interview with Michael Dunn, a leading global consultancy expert, author and one of Consulting Magazine's Top 25 Consultants of 2008.Design/methodology/approachThis briefing is prepared by an independent interviewer.FindingsMichael Dunn is Chairman and CEO of a leading global consultancy specializing in helping Fortune 500 clients and their senior executives more effectively use branding, marketing and innovation to drive profitable growthOriginality/valueThe interview provides insights into how to build and sustain a company‐wide innovation capability.
US research group develops world's smallest radio receiver
Authors: Bogue Robert 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the world's smallest radio receiver, fabricated from a single carbon nanotube (CNT).Design/methodology/approachThis paper describes the construction and mode of operation of the CNT radio and the experiments used to test its functionality.FindingsIt is shown that a single CNT can act as an antenna, adjustable tuner, amplifier and demodulator, resulting in a fully functional radio with the ability to receive and faithfully reproduce audio signals.Originality/valueThis paper describes the world's smallest radio receiver which has the potential to be used in a range of both conventional and novel applications.
Concepts and issues in piezo‐on‐3D silicon structures
Authors: Henry Sweet John , Hutson David , Cochran Sandy , Bernassau Anne 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore concepts and manufacturing issues for the emerging piezo on silicon technology being used in ultra‐sound devices. Development of 3D silicon‐on‐silicon structures is now under way. Additional functionality can be achieved using piezoelectric‐on‐silicon structures and work in this area has started. A commercialisation road map is required, specifying development of the design and fabrication techniques from research to high volume and lower volume high‐value manufacture of niche products.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper outlines processes needed, along with their possible sources with illustrations of present capabilities. Included are surface finishing techniques such as grinding, bonding technology for dissimilar materials, and through‐wafer‐via fabrication. Control of acoustic propagation, thermal expansion and electric field fringing effects will be considered.FindingsAreas that require research and development are identified with possible starting points using techniques already used in other applications. Strong emphasis on empirical research highlights possible issues with examples including surface finishing and wafer dicing to show current methods.Research limitations/implicationsArchetypal pixellated piezoelectric‐on‐silicon structures highlight critical points. In the authors' work, such pixellated structures occur in 1‐3 connectivity piezoelectric ceramic‐polymer composites with unit cell length scales from several millimetres, manufactured with mechanical dicing, to less than 50 μm, manufactured with micro‐moulding.Practical implicationsA forward looking approach of “thinking freely” is taken, this opens up potential manufacturing routes and ideas precluded from an iterative approach.Originality/valueThe conclusion suggests the criteria for a “design for” approach linked to either bottom up or top down assembly techniques for the integration of conventional and unusual piezoelectric materials with silicon in 3D structures.