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News of COVID-19 cases roiled the French stock market in 2020. Finance theory indicates that changes in returns across many assets are driven by economy-wide rather than firm-specific factors. To identify these factors, this paper investigates the time series exposure of 174 French assets to macroeconomic variables. It then uses these exposures to examine the cross-sectional pattern of asset price changes due to coronavirus news. The results indicate that investors responded to COVID-19 news by bidding down the prices of assets that do badly when oil prices fall and the euro appreciates and by bidding up the prices of assets that do well when the European Central Bank eases. Banking sector stocks were not harmed by COVID-19 news, indicating that fears of a sovereign-bank nexus were not driving the response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power transformers are an important asset of power companies. To improve the economic benefits of power companies, it is of great significance to accurately predict the lifecycle cost of each power transformer. Based on the historical operating data on 83 110 kV power transformers, this paper estimates the lifecycle costs of different transformers, and then creates a dataset containing the estimated lifecycle costs and multiple features of the transformers, namely, bid price, transformer capacity, no-load loss, load loss, silicon steel cost, copper wire cost, annual failure frequency (AFF) of major repair, and AFF of minor repair. Based on the dataset, a lifecycle cost prediction model was established for power transformers, which couples grey wolf optimization (GWO) with support vector regression (SVR). The GWO-SVR model was simulated on the prepared dataset. The results show that the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of the model was merely 5.20% on the test set. The proposed model provides a new method for power companies to accurately predict and evaluate the lifecycle cost of power transformers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stochastic bid price optimization of truckload carriers in simultaneous independent transportation auctions requires estimating the probability distributions of the clearing prices. Historical data can be used for this purpose. The sole estimation method found in the literature for this problem setting only takes the length of the auction load into account. In this paper, we devise methods for load-specific parameter estimation by filtering out data coming from past auction loads with distant origin or destination locations. Through simulations, we demonstrate that our methods can improve the profitability of the carriers compared to the previously used method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study adopts three field experiments to analyze the influence of relative and referent thinking in online tourism auctions of bed-and-breakfast(B&B) accommodations on consumer bidding behavior. In study one, the starting bid price equals or is lower than the reference price. Relative and referent thinking are applied to evaluate the products to see whether consumers prefer monetary or non-monetary sales promotions and if they are willing to pay a higher end-price. In study two, moderate (extreme) deviation appears between the start bidding price and reference price, non-monetary (monetary) sales promotions are favored and so higher end-price would be paid. In study three, consumers tended to pay a higher end price due to the symbolic meaning of luxury B&B, for example greater wealth and social status, and did not have a preference for monetary sales promotions. The findings could help future researchers when designing tourist products for online auction strategies. Highlights • This study provided a follow-up process to design strict field experiments. • The effects of relative/referent thinking were applied in B&B accommodation selection. • This study explains when and why the same sales promotion will result in a lower/higher start bidding price. • Price deviation, sale promotion and B&B characteristics were the key factors to create a promotion strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Unbalanced construction bidding covers different allocations of mark-up between contract project items to attempt and increase win chances with unbalance but without changing of total bid price. Many models have been developed to increase both the systemized execution and detection of unbalancing but, although unbalancing is thought to be widespread in general, substantially not known it use. Proposed unbalanced construction bidding models of many researchers neglected part of improve profitability. This paper inspects and integrates the construction bidding models techniques for determining price of each unit quantity and take advantage of bidder benefits, then all proposed mathematical models is studied carefully and more modifications will be done to tries to be fair and equitable for providing owner quantities that impact directly on items prices. Finally it was concluded that the maximum/minimum models are preferred for many world cases. At end of paper, a case of study will be presented to demonstrate the use of proposed models for optimizing project bidding. Also, this paper will serve as a guide for construction project stakeholders with effective management to perform a competitive level of project pricing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Most important construction problems facing building operations are how to choose a contractor specialized in implementing major projects. In addition to that the increasing costs of raw materials, work force leading to the rise of construction costs. Therefore in this paper hierarchy method has been studied and it has been identified for organizations allowing them to minimize common risks of the decision-making process and management. Construction contractor can be prequalification using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) as powerful management technique. Prequalification contractor aims at eliminating in competent contractors in the bidding process. This kind of prequalification helps both of the public and private project owners to successful achieve for required project tasks. The project will be completed with is estimated cost and time because of the contractor's skill, capability and efficiency. Case study gathers a number of contractor's or companies data. After studying Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) of a set of criteria, table of contractor's technical evaluation was concluded all experience, financial situation and the contractor's classification in the Union of Contractors. In addition labor's progress, availability equipment for contractor is applied using Value Engineering (VE) to raise the performance level and reducing costs. Hence, value engineering will be demonstrated, where its goal is to raise the performance level and functionality with the ability to reduce costs. The case study of this paper is a construction project of a hospital, administration building, and staff housing building. It was applied the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and was extracted contractor's evaluation table of a set of criteria (the previous experience, financial situation and the contractor's classification in the Union of Contractors. Also labor's progress, available equipment for the contractor and the contractor applying Value Engineering). The previous data are gathered through the contractor's proposal, while (VE) is applied as process steps on a construction project case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study how managers of Nasdaq-listed firms respond to the threat of delisting due to quantitative listing deficiencies. We find that managers' responses vary by deficiency type, specifically, whether the deficiency is accounting-based (related to shareholders' equity) or market-based (related to market value or bid price). Firms with accounting-based deficiencies exhibit income-increasing discretionary accruals. In contrast, firms with market-based deficiencies do not. We also find that shareholders' equity-deficient firms respond with equity issuances and bid price-deficient firms initiate reverse stock splits. These findings suggest that firms trade off among methods to meet benchmarks based on costs and constraints. In additional analyses, we find some evidence that firms' delisting avoidance strategies succeed in delaying or avoiding regulatory delistings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bid process translates the techno-economic expertise, which partners build in a cooperative way. It is a key business process which influences the company’s survival and strategic orientations. Therefore, the Bid Process Information System (BPIS) that supports this process must be characterized by integrity, flexibility and interoperability. Nevertheless, the urbanization approach, on which we rely to implement this BPIS, has to deal with “ three fit ” problems. To overcome these deficiencies, we propose our methodology to organize the BPIS following four dimensions: operational, organizational, decision-making, and cooperative dimensions. In this paper we are particularly interested at reduce the gap between business and technical infrastructures of the BPIS. Thus, we propose solutions to deal with “ vertical fit ” problems and to define the characteristics of the operational dimension. In this context, we illustrate that the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implements the operational dimension of the BPIS. However, there is no specific module to the exploitation of the bid process. Thus, we propose to extend “OpenERP 7.0” by a new module that treats the techno-economic bid solutions. We also describe the characteristics of the organizational dimension of the BPIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bid price for a construction project comprises the contractor's estimated direct cost and overhead cost plus its applied markup. Contractors often use an all-in rate to lump overhead and markup together on top of direct cost for arriving at a bid price. Such a method is naturally prone to inaccuracy and involves a greater risk in competitive bidding, if the applied rate is selected subjectively. The present research aims to develop an improved approach to determining the combined rate of overhead and markup in the bid price for a project. Four factors, i.e., direct cost, duration, type of work, and location, were used as inputs to build a regression model from cost and bid data of collected projects for predicting the overhead and markup rate in the winning bid for a project, which, together with the model error, is used to estimate the probability of winning for a bid level. Then, based on minimization of overall loss risk proposed by a previous research, the bid preventing over-cuts in price competition is determined by using the model, the probabilistic estimates of project cost, and the probability of recovering costs if losing the bid. The approach is illustrated using two cases and the suggested bids for the cases are compared with those from other models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a pigeon-inspired fuzzy multi-objective optimization algorithm is proposed for task allocation of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles tracking multiple ground targets in urban environment. Firstly, a multi-objective integer programming of task allocation, involving minimum total flight distance, best task allocation balance and minimum completion time, is established. Secondly, fuzzy two-phase optimization based on the relaxed order of desirable satisfactory degrees is proposed to formulate mixed integer programming regarding the linguistic importance preference of objectives. Then, an adaptive pigeon-inspired algorithm combined with auction mechanism is proposed to solve the optimization model. The position of pigeon is defined as the bidding price given by unmanned aerial vehicle for target. To satisfy the constraints and avoid existence of inferior pigeons, the auction mechanism is designed to decode the pigeon position into a feasible task allocation scheme. Finally, by comparing with the conventional particle swarm optimization, simulations validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method. • Multi-objective task allocation is proposed for UAVs tracking targets in urban. • Fuzzy two-phase optimization is designed to handle multi-objective task allocation. • Relaxed order of desirable satisfactory degrees is used for linguistic importance. • Adaptive PIO with auction mechanism is proposed to solve MIP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pricing and availability of tickets have always been a source of confusion for customers in transportation industries. What is the best time to buy tickets? Why passengers taking the same flight might pay significantly different prices for the same seat? Why round trip tickets between two cities sometimes become cheaper than the one-way flights between them? Is it fair to buy a ticket for an itinerary cheaper than a ticket for just a part of it? These observations make customers wonder why they pay higher prices for shorter flights. In this paper, we study the airlines’ revenue management systems and explain some of these pricing schemes in travel industries. We develop a simulator to study the decision making process of network revenue management and use a numerical study to explore these questions and address some explanations for them. We relate these observations to the revenue management measurements such as the bid price or the adjustment cost and show how the dynamic of the network get influenced by these measures that eventually results in unusual pricing. We explain how a zero or small bid price of a specific leg may cause the price of an itinerary be cheaper than one segment of it and that the small bid price is caused by low demand in comparison to the available capacity. We exhibit network revenue management system and show the above issues for a small network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The classic dynamic programming approach is not applicable to the airline network revenue management (RM) problem of a practical size due to the curse of dimensionality. Many heuristic methods, including the most popular bid-price control approach, generate the approximate control decisions based on various static formulations, which need to be re-solved to take into account the dynamic features of the problem. By a simulation experiment, this study examines the re-solving issue of the bid-price method and tests a new method, the parameterized function approach, in which no problem-resolving is required. Based on the results, the parameterized function approach is found to be a promising alternative. As for the bid-price control approach, a high re-solving frequency is needed for a good result. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Auctions are modeled as networks to study dynamic and structural processes. [•] Network characteristics predict sales dynamics and final sales prices. [•] Key actors who influence auctions are identified early in bidding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Size regulation is one of the most common and effective fisheries management strategies to increase future catch for coastal fishes. In this study, the optimal regulation size of the Pacific steephead parrotfish Chlorurus microrhinos was estimated considering bid price increase with growth as well as fish growth rate, natural mortality, and fishing mortality for the species in Okinawa, southern Japan. The optimal regulation size leading to the maximum future catch on a weight basis was estimated to be 30.6 cm fork length (FL), by which a 4.2% increase in catch was predicted. On the other hand, the optimal regulation size leading the maximum future revenue on a financial basis was estimated to be 32.9 cm FL, by which 9.0% revenue increase was predicted. This difference was from the increase of unit price (yen/kg) of individual fish with growth. To establish a size regulation in local fisheries, optimal regulation size and its effect should be estimated on a financial basis, and this will enable information that is more readily understandable for local fishers. Current regulation size of C. microrhinos in the Yaeyama region of Okinawa is 25 cm FL and should be increased to 30 or 35 cm FL for effective stock management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Accounting Auditing Control / Comptabilité Contrôle Audit (English Edition) is the property of Association Francophone de Comptabilite c/o Solle and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Estimating tender data for specific project is the most essential part in construction areas as of a contractor’s view such as: proposed project duration with corresponding gross value and cash flows. Cash flow analysis of construction projects has a long history and has been an important topic in construction management. Determination of project cash flows is very sensitive, especially for repetitive construction projects. This paper focuses on how to calculate tender data for repetitive construction projects such as: project duration, project cost, project/bid price, project cash flows, project maximum working capital and project net present value that is equivalent to net profit at the beginning of the project. A simplified multi-objective optimization formulation will be presented that creates best tender data to contractor comparing with more feasible options that are generated from multi-mode resources in a given project. This mathematical formulation is intended to give more scenarios which provide a practical support for typical construction contractors who need to optimize resource utilization in order to minimize project duration, project/bid price and project maximum working capital while maximizing its net present value simultaneously. At the end of the paper, an illustrative example will be presented to demonstrate the applications of proposed technique to an optimization expressway of repetitive construction project. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper empirically evaluates the effects of NASDAQ''s $1 minimum bid price threshold (known as the one-dollar rule) as part of its listing maintenance criteria. Even though this controversial rule was introduced as early as September 1991, its economic impact has been largely unexplored by academics. This study suggests that implementation of the one-dollar rule is justified for the following reasons: (1) NASDAQ stocks frequently trading below $1 during the pre-rule period are extremely vulnerable to catastrophic losses; (2) a dramatic decline in extreme loss probability is observed among low-priced (relative to $1) stocks after the rule was introduced; and (3) the $1 benchmark serves as an appropriate cutoff point in screening stocks listed on the exchange. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses spectrum auctions and how it can maximize consumer welfare by concentrating on wireless market efficiency that can provide lower prices, higher outputs and strong innovation. Included in the discussion are license auctions, the Demsetz auctions proposed by Harold Demsetz wherein bids are in the form of price schedules rather than payments, and license prices and property rights.

Bid sniping is the most common strategy used in online auctions whereby the bidder places a bid in the closing seconds in order to win the auction. This denies other bidders the time to react and suppresses the final price. While bid sniping is beneficial to the winner, it disadvantages other bidders and the seller does not get the full amount of revenue s/he might otherwise have received in a truly competitive and fair auction. This paper proposes a method to help negate bid sniping as a dominant strategy for winning in online auctions. We propose an amendment to the auction format that allows for a random undisclosed time-out extension should new bids be received in the closing moments. This entices bidders to bid their true valuation up front, otherwise they risk having the auction terminate and therefore not accept any new bids. Several variations of the amended auction format are presented that effectively counteract bid snipers by making it difficult to gain any information by observing the underlying algorithm. To ensure the auction does not continue indefinitely, the format includes mechanisms that place random bounds on the size of, and number of extensions permitted. Our proposal also makes intelligent decisions to maximize the price for the seller based on the auction's bid volume. The size of the extension granted is based on the timing and aggressiveness of how bids are being submitted. To our knowledge, no existing online auctioneers offer such a comprehensive format for actively discouraging bid sniping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many recent studies accounts for the relationship between market risk measures and accounting risk measures. There is also a relationship between risk and bid-ask spread. Therefore some researchers have studied the relationship between financial information as measures of risk and bid-ask spread. The main goal of this paper is to review the relationship between financial information and bid-ask spread in Tehran Stock Exchange. Therefore 156 firms that their necessary information for a three years period was available are selected. Then information about 14 independent variables has been studied. Bid-Ask spread is also computed as dependent variable. Multivariate fixed effects panel data regression technique is used to examine the hypotheses. Signification of the models is examined by t and F statistics. The conclusions account for that the model measures more than twenty eight percent changes in Bid-Ask spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the issues concerning all-asset sales under section 363(f) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which is the provision that permits a debtor to sell its assets free of all liens and burdens. It also explores related issues of consent to sales and credit bids by a syndicate of lenders which will be implicated and litigated in the process. It analyzes the conflicting methods by which a debtor can sell its assets free of all liens and explains the challenges for secured lenders.

Abstract: User participation is one of the most important elements in participatory sensing application for providing adequate level of service quality. However, incentive mechanism and its economic model for user participation have been less addressed so far in this research domain. This paper studies the economic model of user participation incentive in participatory sensing applications. To stimulate user participation, we design and evaluate a novel reverse auction based dynamic pricing incentive mechanism where users can sell their sensing data to a service provider with users’ claimed bid prices. The proposed incentive mechanism focuses on minimizing and stabilizing the incentive cost while maintaining adequate level of participants by preventing users from dropping out of participatory sensing applications. Compared with random selection based fixed pricing incentive mechanism, the proposed mechanism not only reduces the incentive cost for retaining the same number of participants but also improves the fairness of incentive distribution and social welfare. It also helps us to achieve the geographically balanced sensing measurements and, more importantly, can remove the burden of accurate price decision for user data that is the most difficult step in designing incentive mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the evolution of the role of land in the economic thought. Land is a rare space for location of producing activities, living and others The article points out main ideas and approaches from the very beginning of economic literature till nowadays, having used many citations of the authors. The main concern in the article is given to the band rent The terms of differential rent, monopoly rent or bid rent and bid price curves are explained Models of monocentric city by Thünen and Alonso are described in details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auctions have been used as a mechanism for negotiating the price for goods whose value is difficult to establish, as rare goods, unusual goods, or objects of art. In the present study we will examine the mechanism of Internet auctions on e-Bay site. Were studied Romanian auctions for stamps (issued between 1880 and 1980) on e-Bay that took place between February 10 and March 10, 2008. Analyzes indicate that the price depends positively on bidders number and minimum bid price and negatively on reserved price, stamps defects and sellers negative feedback. Also, the number of bidders is negatively influenced by low bid, the existence of a reserved price, the existence of defects and negative feedback and positively influenced by the catalog value and general feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the design and analysis of the first fully expressive, iterative combinatorial exchange (ICE). The exchange incorporates a tree-based bidding language (TBBL) that is concise and expressive for CEs. Bidders specify lower and upper bounds in TBBL on their value for different trades and refine these bounds across rounds. These bounds allow price discovery and useful preference elicitation in early rounds, and allow termination with an efficient trade despite partial information on bidder valuations. All computation in the exchange is carefully optimized to exploit the structure of the bid-trees and to avoid enumerating trades. A proxied interpretation of a revealed-preference activity rule, coupled with simple linear prices, ensures progress across rounds. The exchange is fully implemented, and we give results demonstrating several aspects of its scalability and economic properties with simulated bidding strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we relate the board's attributes to the firm's opacity as measured by the adverse selection component of the bid-ask spread. We find that larger boards and outside directors are associated with reduced opacity, especially in freestanding firms. However, directors' excess control is associated with a significant increase in firm's opacity. We also find that the presence of family pyramidal holding defuses any potential monitoring benefits of board attributes. Our findings suggest that the firm's ultimate ownership structure is not neutral in determining the monitoring effectiveness of the board of directors. This might help explain existing mixed evidence on the monitoring role of the board of directors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates eBay auction features that influence auction outcomes: likelihood of transaction or whether the item was actually sold in the auction (auction success) and value of the last bid (auction effectiveness). Specifically, we study several seller options available to the seller to increase the final price and successful end to the auction. We investigate the effectiveness of the term "New In Box" in the auction's heading, the use of an actual or cut picture, the initial price set by the seller, use of a reserve price and acceptance of a credit card in increasing the likelihood of the auction ending successfully, and at increasing the final price. Along with other independent variables, the impact of factors dealing with the auction pictures is examined. Hundreds of auctions (423) for two financial calculators were examined in this study. Findings show that utilization of certain risk-reducing auction features positively influence outcomes of these eBay auctions. These features include level of the starting bid, mention of "New in Box," inclusion of a real picture of the unit being sold, and the inclusion of a stock picture. In addition, findings indicate that certain risk-enhancing auction features negatively influence eBay auction outcomes. These features include the presence of a reserve price and the mention of "Wear" in the auction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sympathetic blocks for viscerally mediated abdominal pain are a useful adjunct to control pain in appropriately selected patients. Complications from these blocks include infection, bleeding, puncture of nearby structures, or nerve injury. Infectious complications may be minimized by the use of sterile technique including chlorhexidine prep and the use of surgical masks by the practioners. Bleeding and inadvertent puncture of nearby organs may be decreased by utilizing blunt needles and appropriate imaging. The use of neurolytics may cause complications secondary to the inadvertent spread of the injection to nearby structures or intravascular injection. These complications may be decreased through injection of contrast during live fluoroscopy. In addition, technologies of radiofrequency ablation may help to decrease concerns of spread of neurolytics. Despite significant risks, these blocks have been shown to not only decrease pain but also increase quality of life in appropriately selected patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sequential auctions of homogeneous objects are common in public and private marketplaces. Weber derived equilibrium results for what is now a classic model of sequential auctions. However, Weber's results are derived in the context of two particular price quote assumptions. In this paper, we examine a model of sequential auctions based on online auctions, in which, after each auction, all bids are revealed. We show that a pure-strategic, symmetric equilibrium does not exist, regardless of whether the auctions are first- or second-price, if all bids are revealed at the end of each auction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We use bivariate ARCH specifications to model the conditional mean and stock price volatility for 56 takeover bids from January 1985 and July 1994. Using daily data from one year prior to the takeover announcement until the conclusion of the bid, we allow for two-way interaction in both moments between the bidding and the target companies. We find a significant departure from relation to the market for target stocks after a takeover announcement, but not for bidders. These results have implications for merger arbitrage, and we suggest a technique for controlling for differential betas in the merger arbitrage portfolio. Interaction between bidder and target stocks is strong for stock-swap and mixed cases, where the bid price is transferred from bidder to target. But we also find some interaction in cash bids, and from target to bidder in stock-swap takeovers. We argue that this can be explained by both bidder and target reflecting the likelihood of success of the takeover offer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Canadian Bar Review is the property of Canadian Bar Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)