In 1981, personal saving in the United States was $106.6 billion, or 4.4 percent of personal income? Net corporate saving, as defined by undistributed profits net of estimated economic depreciation, was $49.5 billion, or 44.0 percent of after-tax corporate profits? Thus, net private saving was just 6.0 percent of net national product, which was $2.6 trillion. This level of savings is low by his...

Subcontracting allows manufacturer agents to reduce completion times of their jobs and thus obtain savings. This paper addresses the coordination of decentralized scheduling systems with a single subcontractor and several agents having divisible jobs. Assuming complete information, we design parametric pricing schemes that strongly coordinate this decentralized system, i.e., the agents’ choices...

Local beer breweries in Burkina Faso absorb a considerable amount of urban woodfuel demand. We assess the woodfuel savings caused by the adoption of improved brewing stoves by these micro-breweries and estimate the implied welfare effects through the woodfuel market on private households as well as the environmental effect. We find substantial wood savings among the breweries, 36% to 38% if the...

This article serves as the first part of a two-part series that will provide an overview of the reverse auction concept, building on the best research in the field of supply chain management. In this instalment, we examine the growth of reverse auctions in both private and public sector procurement. We then provide a differentiation between the more readily understood forward auction concept an...

While many Asian emerging markets now run current account surpluses, reducing Asia’s overall excess savings is largely about modifying growth patterns and saving–investment balances in China. China accounts for about half of the total GDP in Asia ex-Japan but over two-thirds of the region’s total savings and current account surplus. One feature shared by all Asian economies is the surge in corp...

This paper studies the impact of an unfunded social security system on the distribution of bequests in a framework where savings are due both by life cycle and by random altruistic motivations. We show that the impact of social security on the distribution of bequests depends crucially on the importance of the bequest motive in explaining savings behavior. If the bequest motive is strong, then ...

W hat would happen to the pension system if we replaced the federal income tax with a consumption tax? With more than $10 trillion in retirement savings at stake and with the baby boom generation rapidly approaching retirement age, the answer to this question is of considerable importance. In particular, policy makers need to be concerned about the impact that shifting to a consumption tax woul...

Primary discussions with US private payers and ex-CMS policy experts were conducted to understand key issues for medical products. Methods § On December 23, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced 123 new Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) § The total number of Medicare ACOs ~366 (Health Affairs January 2014) Current Status of ACOs