Complementary Products Research Articles

Offshoring, matching, and income inequality

This paper develops a matching framework of offshoring in which offshoring is defined as cross-country matching between workers and managers with complementary production technology. We study the distributional effects of offshoring by embedding the matching framework in a two-country, two-task model in which workers and managers possess a continuum of skills. Offshoring alters the matching mechanism, changes the span of control, and thereby influences inequality through differential distributional impacts between-task and within-task in each country. We then introduce an endogenous task choice into the model and show that offshoring changes the occupational choice mechanism, which feeds through into distributional consequences. In one case with an endogenous task choice, offshoring leads all workers to match with better managers, thereby increasing within-worker inequality in both countries. This outcome provides new insight into the distributional consequences of offshoring.

Fostering generativity in platform ecosystems: How open innovation and complexity interact to influence platform adoption

Platform sponsors strive to govern their platform ecosystem to be generative in supplying complementary products abreast of adoption targets. A more comprehensive pool of adopters requires high value creation capacity. Leveraging the opening of borders to complementors for competing in adoption could be a winning strategy when fostering generativity. Seldom has this view been studied empirically; therefore, the present study examines the effects of supply-side openness on platform adoption and investigates generativity's role between them as a mediator. Moreover, the study explores the heterogeneity between early and late adopters in generativity's influence. We also analyze generativity in mediating the effect of openness by the moderating influence of technological complexity. Consequently, a moderated mediation analysis is employed on panel data of 8960 video games in six platforms and three regions. Results show that platforms' openness propels their adoption, and generativity mediates this effect. Specifically, this study clarifies the idea that supply-side openness, the proliferation of more open innovation strategies, enhances platforms' value generation capacity, and both enhance platform adoption. Findings also indicate that platforms' technological complexity positively moderates the mediation role of generativity, revealing that in more complex platforms, openness increases generativity more intensely.

Complementarity on software as a service platform

AbstractA platform owner offers product A. A third‐party firm develops a complementary product B: An additional value is created when the two products are consumed together. Access to the platform owner's customer base would broaden the third‐party firm's market reach. First, the third‐party firm chooses the quality of its product. Then, the platform owner and the third‐party firm simultaneously set their prices. We find that a higher level of product complementarity gives the third‐party firm an incentive to raise its quality; however, access to the platform may result in either a higher or a lower quality.

The flood that caused a drought

AbstractTo determine how an exogenous supply shock affects product availability, prices, and price‐setting behavior, we analyzed a unique dataset representing a natural experiment concerning the 2011 flood in Thailand, which affected the production facilities of Western Digital, the world's largest producer of hard drives. The natural disaster impacted the overseas inventory of hard drives in the United States, where availability declined by more than 40% and price indexes increased by as much as 38%. However, our findings suggest that such supply shocks, when transmitted to either substitute or complementary products, are likely to be absorbed within production networks.

Machine Learning Enabled E-Commerce Analytics

Sales data analysis is an important aspect of modern businesses, as it enables them to gain insights into customer preferences and behavior, optimize marketing strategies, and improve revenue. With the rise of big data and machine learning, businesses can now leverage these tools to analyze sales data and gain even deeper insights. This paperfocuses on analyzing sales data using machine learning algorithms, with a specific emphasis on the K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) algorithm. KNN is a popular machine learning algorithm used in classification and regression problems, and it works by identifying the K closest data points to a new observation and predicting its class or value based on the majority class or average value of its nearest neighbors. The dataset used in this paperis from a retail store and includes information on product type, sales channel, customer demographics, and sales volume over a period of several years. The paper will use Python and various machine learning libraries to perform data preprocessing, exploratory data analysis, feature engineering, and modeling. Specifically, KNN will be used to develop a predictive model for sales forecasting, which can help businesses optimize their inventory and production planning. The paper will also use clustering techniques, such as K-Means, to identify customer segments based on their purchasing behavior and demographics, and association rule mining to identify product affinities and recommend complementary products. The results of this analysis can help businesses gain a deeper understanding of their sales data and make data-driven decisions to improve their bottom line. By leveraging the power of KNN and other machine learning algorithms, businesses can gain insights into customer behavior and preferences, optimize their marketing strategies, and improve their overall revenue. Keywords: KNN Algorithm, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Support Vector Machine.

Accuracy of declared nutrient content on labels of commercial complementary food products in Cambodia, Indonesia and Senegal.

Commercially produced complementary foods (CPCF) have the potential to fill nutritional gaps in the diets of older infants and young children. This study evaluated the accuracy of nutrient declarations on labels of 43 commonly available CPCF in three peri-urban/urban locations: Khsach Kandal district, Cambodia (n = 11); Bandung, Indonesia (n = 11) and Guédiawaye and Dakar departments, Senegal (n = 21). Label values (LV) from product nutrient declarations were compared to analytical values (AV) derived from laboratory nutrient analysis for macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein and total fat), nutrients of public health concern (saturated fat, total sugar and sodium), and micronutrients of interest (calcium, iron and zinc). European Union guidance for nutrition label accuracy was used to set tolerance ranges for each nutrient LV relative to AV. LV were missing for one or more nutrients in 88.4% (n = 38) of the CPCF products and no CPCF met EU tolerance thresholds for all nine nutrients assessed. Over half of products with LV for key micronutrients (55.6%, n = 10/18) and macronutrients (54.8%, n = 23/42) met tolerances for LV accuracy. Eighty-five percent (n = 11/13) of products with LV for nutrients of public health concern were determined to be accurate. Nutrient content claims for iron appeared on 19 (44.2%) of the 43 products. Of the products which made an iron content claim, 26.3% had inaccurate LV with the majority of these containing less iron than declared. Regulatory action is needed to ensure that CPCF labelling communicates complete and accurate nutrient content information that enables caregivers to make informed decisions for feeding older infants and young children.

Integrated inventory control and scheduling decision framework for packaging and products on a reusable transport item sharing platform

This study considers the problem of inventory and scheduling decisions on a reusable transport item (RTI) sharing platform with the collaborative recovery of used RTIs and replenishment of products in a two-tier container management centre (CMC). The products (packaged as full RTIs) are pre-positioned at the regional CMC (R-CMC), and empty RTIs are stored at the CMC hub. Moreover, the CMC replenishes the products and recycles RTIs respectively and periodically. The RTI and products are a set of complementary products, and the replenishment task requires sufficient empty RTIs in stock. Untimely and insufficient RTI returns without considering product inventory changes often result in RTI out-of-stock situations that harm the customer's lean productivity. This paper proposes a machine learning and simulation optimisation (MSO) decision framework to collaboratively assist RTI inventory and scheduling decisions in a two-tier CMC. Based on a case study, we can conclude the decision framework has better performance on the profitability and inventory control capability. Moreover, different inventory and scheduling parameter settings in the two-tier CMCs impact the platform's profitability to derive corresponding management insights, and a decision system can be built based on the above framework.

A comparison of online recommendation methods: Simultaneous versus sequential approaches

This study investigates the relative profitability of online recommendations (sequential or simultaneous) of durable goods used by various firms, such as Walmart and Amazon. To achieve this, we develop a utility model (specified in terms of product attributes) that captures the complementarity between the recommended products. To recover customers’ utility for simultaneous or sequential purchases of durable goods, we conduct incentive-aligned conjoint experiments in which participants select a combination of fully or partially complementary products. The results reveal that the product attribute associations are more noticeable for fully complementary product categories. In addition, customers tend to balance comparable attributes when buying durable goods sequentially over time, while they reinforce comparable attributes when buying simultaneously. The profit analysis based on the estimates shows that the recommendations for simultaneous purchases can yield higher profits for fully complementary product categories than for sequential recommendation purchases. However, the recommendations for sequential purchases generate higher earnings for partially complementary product categories than for simultaneous recommendation purchases. A simulation study reveals that the profits differ considerably by combinations of product attributes because customers evaluate complementarity among attributes differently between the two recommendations.

Combination of pricing and inventory policies for deteriorating products with sustainability considerations.

Economic, environmental, and social criteria are all being taken into consideration simultaneously when determining pricing policies or inventory levels in sustainable production management. The combination of pricing and inventory policies is an important source of leverage for the efficient management of perishable products. This paper, among the first studies, proposes the problem of devising optimal pricing and inventory management decisions simultaneously where the environmental and social criteria are contributed for perishable complementary products replenished and sold by the same company. This study considers two interrelated price-sensitive linear demand functions to consider the possibility of shortage with both budget and warehouse capacity constraints. Another contribution of the proposed model is to consider an upper bound for environmental pollution and a lower bound for job opportunities as the constraints to the model. As a complex optimization model, the challenge of complexity is addressed by a heuristic algorithm for finding an optimal solution. After an extensive analysis using numerical examples, some managerial insights are concluded from the results. One finding from these analyses confirms that the total capacity of the warehouse, the total available budget, carbon emissions, and variable job opportunities have a high impact on the optimal solution to find a balance between sustainability criteria for making pricing and inventory policies.

Manufacturer Channel Encroachment and Evolution in E-Platform Supply Chain: An Agent-Based Model

Manufacturer channel encroachment is a common phenomenon in the current e-commerce supply chain, which has been well studied. This study develops a multi-agent-based model of the e-platform supply chain to analyse manufacturers’ channel encroachment strategies and supply chain evolution. Through both direct sales channels and e-commerce platforms, manufacturers can sell two complementary products of varying quality. Consumers who have preferences compare the pricing information gathered from manufacturers through different channels before selecting the one that generates the best utility. At the end of each period, the manufacturers make a price adjustment using the genetic algorithm. We look at the supply chain evolution process through multi-period simulations and discuss the factors that influence encroachment decisions. We find that manufacturers’ channel encroachment is detrimental to the profitability of the e-commerce platform. Consumers’ channel preferences and quality preferences benefit the e-commerce platform and can discourage manufacturers’ encroachment decisions. In addition, increases in encroachment costs and commission rates can reduce manufacturers’ propensity for channel encroachment.

Advancing the marketing‐operations interface in omnichannel retail

Advancing the marketing‐operations interface in omnichannel retail

Construction of a Bifunctional Pd(0)‐CALB@SiO2 Hybrid Catalyst for the Synthesis and Arylation of Imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridine in One Pot

AbstractHerein, we describe an efficient strategy for the construction of enzyme‐metal biohybrid catalyst [Pd(0)‐CALB@SiO2] via encapsulation of Candida antarctica lipase B and Pd(0) within silica. Next, the applicability of the newly constructed biohybrid was demonstrated by catalyzing the sequence of Groebke‐Blackburn‐Bienayme (GBB) multicomponent reaction and Suzuki‐Miyaura coupling in a single‐pot to produce clinically significant imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridine derivatives. Interestingly, both entities, i.e., CALB enzyme and Pd(0)‐metal of hybrid catalyst, exhibited good catalytic activity during this approach. Further, the generality of this protocol was explored by using differently substituted boronic acid, which gave related products in 49–87 % isolated yield. Next, the synthetic utility was proved by set‐up a gram scale reaction which provided the complementary product in 81 % yield. Also, the developed biohybrid was found to be reusable up to five catalytic cycles.

Combined Systems of Photoelectric and Thermal Conversions of Solar Energy

The article provides a brief overview of research in the development of combined systems consisting of photovoltaic and thermal solar energy converters. Theoretical, numerical and experimental methods of research in the field of development of combined systems, consisting of photovoltaic and thermal converters of solar energy, have been carried out for almost four decades. Researchers and specialists have repeatedly proposed and evaluated various types of combined systems consisting of photovoltaic and thermal solar energy converters. If you look closely at the history of these developments, you can see that at the beginning of the work, the main efforts were directed to fundamental theories, the consolidation of conceptual ideas and a feasibility study of the main configurations of the design of the collector of combined systems consisting of photovoltaic and thermal solar energy converters. By the early 2000s, research on combined systems consisting of photovoltaic and thermal solar energy converters was more about improving collector design and cost-effectiveness evaluation. More rigorous analyzes of energy and mass transfer phenomena have been carried out on conventional collectors with experimental verification. Ideas for integrated building design began to emerge, and demonstration designs became available for documentation. However, in the last decade, the focus has generally shifted towards the development of complementary products, innovative systems, testing procedures, and design optimization. Numerical analysis becomes more complete with powerful analytical tools. Particular attention was paid to monitoring product reliability, system reliability and environmental impact. It is expected that combined systems consisting of photovoltaic and thermal solar energy converters will be more widely used in the near future, primarily due to environmental necessity.

Cyclotron production of 103Pd using a liquid target

IntroductionIn this work, we present the first feasibility study on the production of the medically important radionuclide 103Pd via the 103Rh(p,n)103Pd reaction by cyclotron irradiation of a liquid target. Using a liquid target removes the time consuming and complex dissolution process of rhodium post-irradiation due to its chemically inactive nature and thereby will improve the accessibility of this radioisotope. MethodsLiquid targets made from Rh(NO3)3·×H2O salt dissolved in de-ionized water were irradiated using a 12 MeV beam at the TR13 cyclotron at TRIUMF, Vancouver. ResultsA maximum EOB activity of 1.03 ± 0.05 MBq was achieved with the tested conditions, sufficient for basic radiochemistry studies. An effective separation method using anion exchange chromatography is reported using 1 M HNO3 as an eluent for rhodium (90.1 ± 2.1 % recovery) and a 1:1 mixture of 0.5 M NH3 + NH4Cl palladium eluent (103.8 ± 2.3 % recovery). The solution showed good in-target pressure stability. However, the production efficiency decreased significantly with higher solution concentrations and irradiation lengths which puts into question the scaling potential of this method. ConclusionThis proof-of-concept study has demonstrated the potential for using liquid targets as complementary production method of 103Pd for research purposes. The liquid target route faces several scaling challenges but can nonetheless improve the availability of 103Pd and consequently aid in widening its utility for radiopharmaceuticals.

Compatibility Choices, Switching Costs, and Data Portability

We study mix-and-match compatibility choices of firms selling complementary products in a dynamic setting. Contrary to what happens in a static setting where symmetric firms choose compatibility (Matutes and Regibeau 1988), when switching costs are high and firms make price discrimination based on past purchases, symmetric firms choose incompatibility to soften future competition if the discount factor is large, which harms consumers. Interoperability increases consumer surplus at least for high switching costs. Data portability, by reducing switching costs, induces the firms to choose compatibility more often but, given a compatibility regime, benefits consumers only if a nonnegative pricing constraint binds. (JEL D11, D21, D43, D82, L86)

Pyrolysis kinetics of bio-based polyurethane: Evaluating the kinetic parameters, thermodynamic parameters, and complementary product gas analysis using TG/FTIR and TG/GC-MS

In this study, the pyrolysis behavior and reaction kinetics of bio-based polyurethane (BPU) was investigated in comparison to the individual components enzymatic lignin (EL) and polyurethane (PU). The produced gas composition during their pyrolysis were investigated using thermogravimetric (TG) analysis combined with FTIR and TG coupled with TG-GC/MS. TG analysis indicated that the decomposition of BPU was comparable with that of PU. However, the larger peak temperatures in DTA curves and residue mass for BPU than that for PU indicated that the incorporation of EL improved its thermal resistance. Most of the absorbance bands in FTIR for both samples were similar, except of the absorbance at 1500-1750 cm−1 for PU and 1000-1150 cm−1 for BPU. The dominant evolved products were N-containing compounds for PU and BPU, however, the phenols and furans were detected during BPU pyrolysis. Based on the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa model, the average activation energy was determined as 176.1 kJ mol−1 for BPU, which was larger than 159.5 kJ mol−1 for PU and smaller than that of 298.5 kJ mol−1 for EL. For PU and BPU, the experimental curves were comparable with F1.5 model at the conversion rate in the α range of 0.1–0.5 and F3 model beyond that range.

Separate and bundling selling strategies for complementary products in a participative pricing mechanism

This paper studies the name-your-own-price (NYOP) mechanism for complementary products in which customers participate in the pricing mechanism by submitting bids. If the bid exceeds a concealed threshold, the transaction occurs. Considering supply uncertainty, two different sale strategies, bundling and separate sales, are addressed. Under the separate sale, customers can submit a bid for each of the individual products. Under the bundling sale, products are sold as a package and customers can place a single bid on it. A game-theoretic approach is used, and with respect to the concavity of the profit function, equilibrium thresholds, optimal retailer strategy, and customers bidding behavior are obtained. Results showed that complementation degree and marginal costs are critical factors that can change dominant strategy and bidding policy. High extra valuation gained by purchasing complementary products encourages customers to submit greater bids and buy the bundle which in turn increases the firm’s profit. The high value of low-marginal cost also causes the separate sale to outperform the bundling strategy. Furthermore, NYOP acts as a price discrimination tool and facilitates segmenting the market.

Results evaluation of the implementation of the “Program for Optimizing Feeding of Children in the First Year of Life in the Russian Federation” dated 2009

Background. Appropriate prescribing of complementary food allows to optimize the intake of macro- and micronutrients, provides adequate indicators of growth and development of the child, reduces the risk of non-infectious pathology. Taking into account the significance of this problem, World Health Organization (WHO) experts, together with The European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition, carried out a research where they studied issues related to the appointment of complementary food for children in the European Region and their compliance with existing recommendations.
 Aim. To study the features of the introduction of complementary food in the Russian Federation on the basis of an assessment of the implementation of the recommendations of the "National program for optimizing the feeding of children in the first year of life in the Russian Federation", 2009 and to conduct a comparative analysis of the results obtained and the data presented in the study carried out by WHO experts.
 Materials and methods. A multicenter retrospective, uncontrolled, non-randomized study was conducted in 7 cities of the Russian Federation.
 Results. The median age at which complementary foods were introduced was 5 [46] months; vegetables (51.0%) and cereals (31.2%) were the first complementary food products; children began to receive fruit mainly (77.3%) in the second half of life; the age of introduction of meat puree was 7 [68] months, while every 4th child by 9 months did not receive meat; juices were introduced at 7 [69] months, but in 8.8% of children juices became the first product of complementary foods; median age for yolk administration was 8 [710] months, fish 9 [810] months. Only 14.0% of mothers used products of exclusively industrial production in the nutrition of their children, 33.9% prepared it themselves. Correlation analysis did not revealed any relationship between the body weight of a child at the age of 12 months and the time of introduction of the first complementary food product, as well as with the age of introduction of each of the introduced products. A connection was established between the body weight of a child at the age of 12 months and the volume of individual products that children receive between the age of 6 and 12 months. The recommendations of the National program for optimizing the feeding of children in the first year of life in the Russian Federation were generally implemented. Our analyses revealed the most frequent violations during the introduction and use of complementary food products: late start of their introduction (after the age of 6 months) in 41.3% of children, delayed prescription of meat, frequent use of home-made cereals not enriched with micronutrients, dilution of dairy-free porridge with water, irregular inclusion in the diet of egg yolk.
 Conclusion. The results obtained confirm the importance of implementation of the Program for Optimizing Feeding of Children in the First Year of Life in the Russian Federation updated in 2019 and approved by the Ministry of Health of Russia and indicate the need for further work on its improvement.

Pricing and Return Strategies in a Dual-Channel Closed Loop Supply Chain considering Complementary Products and Sales Effort

Pricing and Return Strategies in a Dual-Channel Closed Loop Supply Chain considering Complementary Products and Sales Effort

Approach to acute psychosis in older adults.

Approach to acute psychosis in older adults.