Cost Reduction Effect Research Articles

공간회귀모형을 이용한 상수도통합 효과 분석

In order to improve the profitability and efficiency of the waterworks project, there has been discussion about the integration of local waterworks providers including Kwater. The core of the discussion of integration centered on the local waterworks project is to improve the efficiency of the waterworks project through the integration of the spatial market scope of regional waterworks and local waterworks providers. In this study, using the spatial regression model, based on the estimation results of the cost reduction effect of integrating the existing local waterworks project, the effect of integrating four regions was estimated: western Gyeongnam, western Chungcheong, southern Jeonbuk, and southern Jeonnam. A total of four models were selected and estimated, including the basic model and three additional models, and the integration effect was measured as the reduction rate and amount of cost reduction due to the integration of the selected local governments on the premise that the input of factors in 2019 was made. In both the basic model and the additional model, it was estimated that the cost reduction would occur due to the integration of the local governments to be analyzed.

Strategic Licensing of Green Technologies to a Brown Rival: A Game Theoretical Analysis

This paper studies a green manufacturer’s strategic licensing of its green technology to a brown rival under the consideration of the green manufacturer’s environmental concerns. Consumers in the market have green awareness. Adopting the green technology not only helps manufacturers to reduce carbon emissions, but also to increase market sizes. The green manufacturer can choose from three technology licensing strategies, i.e., no licensing (N), royalty licensing (R) or fixed-fee licensing (F). The equilibrium licensing strategy can be derived by comparing the respective payoff after adopting the three strategies. It is found that the green manufacturer should choose fixed-fee licensing strategy when the market size expansion effect is strong, and the competition intensity is moderate; otherwise, the green manufacturer should choose royalty licensing strategy. Furthermore, it is found that when the green manufacturer is more concerned about environmental impacts, it will be more willing to choose fixed-fee licensing strategy, rather than royalty licensing strategy. Through numerical tests, some interesting results are also found. For example, the brown manufacturer might be hurt even if the cost reduction effect of technology licensing is relatively stronger. Moreover, it is found that consumer surplus and social welfare nonmonotonically change with the substitution level. In summary, this research tries to provide some guidelines to the industry and the society on better managing green technology diffusions.

공동주택 기계설비 에너지로드맵 수립에 따른 에너지비용 및 탄소배출량 저감효과 분석

This study analyzed the sensitivity of mechanical facilities in multi-unit dwelling according to the energy supply and heating type for 500 households of LH apartments. Accordingly, an optimal setting plan for each ZEB grade was presented, and the effects of energy cost and carbon emission reduction were analyzed. In the standard type model, it was found that the difficulty of achieving ZEB was higher in the public tract house than in the rental house. In order to achieve high-level ZEB, it is necessary to optimize mechanical facilities and improve performance. According to the annual apartment supply plan, apartment supplied in 2050 are expected to reduce energy cost by 79.7% and carbon emissions by 94.6% compared to apartments supplied in 2021.

신재생융복합시스템이 적용된 시설원예의 온실가스 및 운영비용 절감 효과 분석

In this study, the empirical data of a heating season of renewable energy convergence system installed at the Purme farm in Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do was analyzed. Through comparative comparison with other heat sources such as oil and electricity, which are widely used in conventional greenhouses, the operation cost and greenhouse gas reduction effect of the proposed system were analyzed. The proposed renewable energy convergence system consisted of solar collectors, seasonal thermal energy storages, hybrid source heat pumps, and ground source heat pumps. The heat generated from the proposed system was stored in the thermal energy storage and supplied to the greenhouse. From October 2021 to March 2022, about 38.4% of the total 481.9 MWh of heating heat at the farm was supplied directly or indirectly through the solar system. In addition, the system COP of the heat pump system was determined as 2.28, and the system COP of the entire proposed system was 2.40. Both the operation cost and greenhouse gas emission of the proposed system were lower than the conventional systems.

Efficiency, and economies of scale and scope in Japanese agricultural cooperatives

The purpose of this study is to investigate regional differences in the business characteristics of Japanese agricultural cooperatives (JAs), which have been widely criticized for depending on non-agricultural activities, contradictory to cooperative principles. We construct a panel data set over 2004–2019 from the financial statements of JAs’ prefectural-level federations and use a stochastic meta-frontier cost function model, which enables the decomposition of meta-frontier efficiency into two components: technical efficiency and technology gap ratios. The operational differences between JAs in urban and rural areas are investigated by comparing their efficiency and economies of scale and scope. The main results are summarized as follows: first, the meta-cost efficiency scores of JAs in urban areas are, on average, larger than those in rural areas, which reflects the differences in technology gap ratios. Second, JAs exhibit overall economies of scale in both areas; however, the product-specific economies of scale differ between financial and nonfinancial outputs. Finally, JAs in rural areas exhibit relatively larger economies of scope than those in urban areas. These findings indicate clear distinctions between urban and rural areas in cost-reduction effects. Finally, financial activities bring higher efficiency for JAs in urban areas, while benefits from simultaneous production are larger for those in rural areas.

Does the presence of a public firm facilitate merger approvals?

We study mergers between two or more private firms operating in mixed oligopolies, where we allow for the merger to produce cost-reduction effects. We identify that the presence of public firms can facilitate the approval of welfare-improving mergers, even when their cost-reducing effect is relatively low. • This paper studies mergers between private firms in mixed oligopolies. • We allow for the merger to produce cost-reduction effects. • The presence of public firms can facilitate the approval of welfare-improving mergers. • This happens even when the merger’s cost-reducing effect is low.

457. STANDARDIZATION AND SHORT-TERM RESULTS OF ROBOT-ASSISTED THORACOSCOPIC ESOPHAGECTOMY

Abstract Surgical cases of robot-assisted thoracoscopic esophagectomy (RAMIE) is increasing because of the advantages of robotic system. We introduced RAMIE in 2019 and standardized the surgical procedure. The usefulness of RAMIE was examined by classifying surgical cases into early and late periods and comparing the surgical results. Fifty-four patients who underwent RAMIE were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent D2 or higher lymph node (LN) dissection, gastric tube reconstruction, and R0 surgery. The patients were divided into two groups, 26 cases in the first half up to December 2020 and 28 cases in the second half after January 2021. The patient background, surgical technique, and short-term results were compared. The tumor staging was based on the UICC 8th version. Thoracic surgery time was 274 minutes, the chest bleeding volume was 30 mL, and the postoperative hospital stay was 19 days (median). In the late stage, patients with clinical thoracic LN metastasis (p = 0.01) and advanced stage (p = 0.006) were higher than those in the early period. There were significantly more cases of thoracic duct resection and D3 dissection in the late period (p = 0.02, p = 0.009). No differences in postoperative complications and intra-hospital death was observed, however the postoperative hospital stay was significantly shortened in the late period (p = 0.001). Thorough mediastinal LN dissection by RAMIE could be safely performed by standardizing and improving the surgical procedures. RAMIE has several issues such as higher cost associated with equipment and longer operative time, but it is possible to perform precise procedures with solo surgery, and it is expected that cost reduction effects will be expected in terms of the number of participants in surgery and the length of hospital stay after surgery.

Effect of Drug Cost Reduction Before and After Expansion of Pharmacist’s Prospective Audit and Feedback Intervention for Patients Receiving a Specific Antibiotic to All Injectable Antibiotics

Effect of Drug Cost Reduction Before and After Expansion of Pharmacist’s Prospective Audit and Feedback Intervention for Patients Receiving a Specific Antibiotic to All Injectable Antibiotics

ESTIMATION OF ECONOMIC EFFECTS FROM PRODUCT CUSTOMIZATION OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES

The development of digital production technologies, taking place within the framework of the global fourth industrial revolution, creates conditions for increasing the level of customization of industrial production, i.e. the ability to manufacture products that reflect the preferences of small groups of consumers and even individual customers. Product customization, as one of the most important aspects of the fourth industrial revolution, is of great interest for researchers and has been becoming one of the promising trajectories for the development of new production technologies and methods of organizing production. But at the same time, the economic effect of increasing the customization of products remains not fully understood. This study is aimed at identifying various economic effects arising from customization in industrial enterprises, and their quantitative assessment in relation to the manufacturing industries of the Russian industry. Using a systematic review of available scientific research and analytical reports, the study quantifies the economic effects of customization in various sectors of the Russian economy. The results show the colossal effect of further customization in Russian enterprises. The authors conclude that the annual effect of revenue growth in all industries, even under the most pessimistic scenarios and estimates, is 1.9 trillion rubles, and the effect of cost reduction – 1.4 trillion rubles. The results obtained can form the basis of government measures to stimulate the customization of products of Russian industrial enterprises.

System-friendly process design: Optimizing blue hydrogen production for future energy systems

While the effects of ongoing cost reductions in renewables, batteries, and electrolyzers on future energy systems have been extensively investigated, the effects of significant advances in CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technologies have received much less attention. This research gap is addressed via a long-term (2050) energy system model loosely based on Germany, yielding four main findings. First, CCS-enabled pathways offer the greatest benefits in the hydrogen sector, where hydrogen prices can be reduced by two-thirds relative to a scenario without CCS. Second, advanced blue hydrogen technologies can reduce total system costs by 12% and enable negative CO2 emissions due to higher efficiencies and CO2 capture ratios. Third, co-gasification of coal and biomass emerged as an important enabler of these promising results, allowing efficient exploitation of limited biomass resources to achieve negative emissions and limit the dependence on imported natural gas. Finally, CCS decarbonization pathways can practically and economically incorporate substantial shares of renewable energy to reduce fossil fuel dependence. Such diversification of primary energy inputs increases system resilience to the broad range of socio-techno-economic challenges facing the energy transition. In conclusion, balanced blue-green pathways offer many benefits and deserve serious consideration in the global decarbonization effort.

Prediction Model for the Internal Temperature of a Greenhouse with a Water-to-Water Heat Pump Using a Pellet Boiler as a Heat Source Using Building Energy Simulation

Although smart farms are considered an alternative to traditional agriculture, they require large amounts of energy and high investment costs, hindering their efficient implementation. In the Republic of Korea, the energy supply is primarily for heating rather than cooling, necessitating the accurate prediction of the greenhouse internal temperature to determine the feasibility of agricultural management while using renewable energy. This study developed a model (TRNSYS) for predicting the internal temperature of a greenhouse using building energy simulation. A greenhouse heating experiment was conducted using a hybrid heating system simulated by TRNSYS to analyze the prediction model. The regression analysis of the experimental and simulation results revealed an R2 and RMSE of 0.8834 and 3.61, respectively. A comparative analysis was conducted with the existing hot air heating system to evaluate the heating performance and economic feasibility of the hybrid system. Overall, the heating performance exhibited satisfactory results, whereas the economic analysis, based on life cycle cost, revealed a cost reduction effect of 9.45%. Hence, greenhouse heating using renewable energy can replace conventional fossil fuels with economic advantages. Moreover, the prediction of the internal temperature of the greenhouse will facilitate the design of a systematic smart farm business to prevent duplicate investment.

CO2 emission and construction cost reduction effect in cases of recycled aggregate utilized for nonstructural building materials in South Korea

The construction industry is a major consumer of natural resources and a major waste generator. The use of recycled aggregate is important for the environmental sustainability of the construction industry because it can not only reduce the need for waste landfills, but can also reduce the depletion of natural aggregates. Although there are many studies on the environmental effects of recycled aggregate, there are few studies on its practical effects as applied to real buildings. Recycled aggregates have not been widely used owing to a lack of user trust. Generally RCA has been commonly used in nonstructural materials (such as pavements or filling materials) owing to its inherent properties. Due to inferior characteristics of RCA, there is a limit to being widely used as a structural material immediately. Therefore, to expand the use of recycled aggregate, it is necessary to study the economic and environmental benefits from using recycled aggregate as a nonstructural material for buildings. In this study, the cost and potential embodied CO 2 (ECO 2 ) emission benefits were analyzed by using recycled aggregates as the nonstructural materials in four types of buildings, including apartments with 31 different characteristics. When applied RCA to the apartments, the cost savings are -$122,057 which is 10% reduction compared to original material. And the ECO 2 emissions cost savings amount to -$2,958 which is 5% reduction compared to original material; these represent the most effective case and reflect a −0.158% change in the total construction cost.

Is there “productivity paradox” in Chinese producer-service enterprises' OFDI?

As an important decision of enterprise internationalization, is there a similar phenomenon of “productivity paradox” in Chinese enterprises' overseas investment? We study this issue by using a sample of Chinese A-share listed firms in the producer-service industry from 2007 to 2019. According to our empirical results, there is no “productivity paradox” phenomenon in the OFDI of producer-service enterprises in China. In other words, the productivity of enterprises is positively correlated with OFDI. After using the different variable measures and adopting IV estimation, this conclusion is still robust. Our research also finds that cost reduction effect, R&D improvement effect and industrial linkage effect are the three main influencing mechanisms. By analyzing the heterogeneity of dimensions such as the nature of enterprise ownership, technology intensity, cultural distance of investment destinations, and whether they belong to the “OBOR” (One Belt, One Road), we find that productivity has a more significant effect on OFDI in SOEs, technology-intensive enterprises and enterprises whose investment destinations belong to non-OBOR, and with closer cultural proximity. This paper provides implications for Chinese enterprises on how to improve their international competitiveness through OFDI.

The Effect of a VAT Rate Reduction on Enterprise Costs: Empirical Research Based on China’s VAT Reform Practice

China has implemented a series of tax system reforms to improve the business environment, reduce the burden on enterprises and promote supply-side structural reform. In this article, we focus on the value-added tax (VAT) rate reduction that occurred in 2018 and 2019. We analyse the mechanism of the impact of the value-added tax rate reduction on enterprises’ costs and conduct an empirical test using the DID model and data from Chinese listed companies. The main conclusions are as follows. First, the reduction of VAT rate can significantly reduce the total cost of enterprises. This means that the reduction of VAT rate plays a positive role in reducing enterprise burden, stimulating enterprise vitality and improving enterprise performance. Second, the “cost reduction” effect is more obvious in non-state-owned enterprises than state-owned enterprises. Third, Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the cost reduction effect is more obvious in enterprises that are high-cost, large scale, and those located in eastern China. Small and medium-sized enterprises and those found in the central and western regions failed to significantly reduce operating costs, indicating that they did not benefit fully from a reduced VAT rate, which partly shows that the benefits of VAT tax reduction are not evenly distributed among enterprises. This study can provide a reference for the government to further improve the tax system, optimize the living environment of enterprises, and promote the sustainable development of economy.

Optimization of Solar/Fuel Cell Hybrid Energy System Using the Combinatorial Dynamic Encoding Algorithm for Searches (cDEAS)

This study proposes a computational design method for determining a hybrid power system’s sizing and ratio values that combines the national electric, solar cell, and fuel cell power sources. The inequality constraints associated with the ranges of power storage exchange and the stored energy are reflected as penalty functions in the overall cost function to be minimized. Using the energy hub model and the actual data for the solar cell power and the load of the residential sector in one Korean city for one hundred days, we optimize the ratio of fuel cell energy and solar cell energy to 0.46:0.54 through our proposed approach. We achieve an average cost-reduction effect of 19.35% compared to the cases in which the fuel-cell energy ratio is set from 0.1 to 0.9 in 0.1 steps. To optimize the sizing and the ratio of fuel-cell energy in the hybrid power system, we propose the modified version of the univariate dynamic encoding algorithm for searches (uDEAS) as a novel optimization method. The proposed novel approaches can be applied directly to any place to optimize an energy hub system model comprising three power sources, i.e., solar power, fuel cell, and power utility.

Alleviating behavioral biases at job search: Do nudges work?

We experimentally study the effectiveness of policy interventions in reducing the negative welfare effects of behavioral biases on job search. Due to quasi-hyperbolic discounting, individuals reduce their search effort and reservation wage, while the sunk-cost fallacy makes individuals decrease their reservation wage over the search spell. We compare the effects of search cost reduction and nudging. We find that search cost reduction increases the search effort and payoffs but not the reservation wage. Conversely, nudging increases the reservation wage, but not the search effort or payoffs. Both interventions reduce the impact of the sunk-cost fallacy on the reservation wage.

THE ROLE OF COST REDUCTION AND INVENTORY OPTIMIZATION ON THE PARTNERSHIP IN PURCHASING AND LOGISTICS, AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE COMPANIES FROM INDONESIA

Supply chain management is of primary importance in industries operating in an archipelago country like Indonesia. This study aimed to determine the effect of cost reduction and inventory optimization on the partnership in purchasing and logistics on purchasing and logistic performance. This study focuses on food and beverage manufacturing companies in Indonesia. This research uses quantitative methods and descriptive research types. The population in this study is managers of manufacturing companies in Indonesia. The questionnaires obtained were 74 respondents, then respondents who came from manufacturing companies were 50 respondents who met the research criteria. This study indicates several findings: cost reduction and inventory optimization affect the partnership in purchasing and logistics but do not affect purchasing and logistics performance. Furthermore, partnership in purchasing and logistics affects purchasing and logistic performance. The results show that the partnership strategy is essential for manufacturing companies, especially food and beverages because cost reduction and inventory optimization need to involve several companies with more resources to increase purchasing and logistic performance.

The role of global value chain participation in geographic concentration by export destinations: empirical evidence from Chinese firm-level data

ABSTRACT This study empirically investigates the nexus between global value chain participation and geographic concentration by export destinations. We follow the recent theoretical framework of Antras and Gortari (2020) and Pflüger and Tabuchi (2019), which allows us to determine a link between global value chain participation and geographic concentration by export destinations with trade cost reduction and dispersive effect in the global value chains. Using China’s firm-level data from 2000 to 2011 and a Tobit model, we find that firms with higher global value chain participation are more likely to concentrate in export destination countries. Moreover, heterogeneous firms with lower productivity are more likely to concentrate in destination countries. Firm size and type can also affect the geographic concentration by export destinations. The destination country’s GDP, language, border, and distance from China also play significant roles in determining Chinese exporting firms’ concentration by destination.

The effect of manufacturing intelligence on green innovation performance in China

Accelerating the intelligent transformation of manufacturing industry is an important strategic choice to realize the green innovation transformation. Based on the perspectives of static efficiency and dynamic productivity, this paper analyzes the effect of manufacturing intelligence on green innovation performance and its internal mechanism from theoretical and empirical levels by using the dynamic spatial lag model (DSAR), mediating effect model and moderating effect model. The results show that: In the whole country, manufacturing intelligence has a significant promotion effect on green innovation performance; The reason why manufacturing intelligence can promote the improvement of green innovation performance is that manufacturing intelligence is conducive to the production of "technology promotion effect" and "cost reduction effect", so as to promote green technology innovation, then effectively increase the desirable outputs and significantly decrease the undesirable outputs; The effect of manufacturing intelligence on green innovation performance has obvious regional heterogeneity: the improvement effect of manufacturing intelligence on green innovation performance in the eastern region is significantly higher than that in the central and western regions. In addition, further analysis shows that green technological progress rather than green technical efficiency is the main driving force for manufacturing intelligence to improve the dynamic green innovation performance.

Evaluation of an Additional Generator on the Economic Effect Based on a Load Sharing Optimization of Medium-Speed/High-Speed Diesel Generators in a Microgrid

This study investigates the additional installation of a high-speed diesel generator to independent microgrids (MG) such as remote islands where relatively efficient medium-speed diesel generators (DGs) are mainly used. While small-sized and lightweight, high-speed DGs are not widely spread for continuous usage because their efficiency is lower than that of the medium-speed DGs. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of the new method of load sharing optimization to improve the economy by interconnecting a high-speed DG to an independent MG where the medium-speed DGs are operated. The study investigates the effect of operation cost reduction by installing the new load sharing method of operation following the load sharing pattern derived by the mixed-integer programming. As a result of this study, there was some effect to installing a high-speed DG operated by the conventional method. In addition, by adding the new method of load sharing with optimization, the economic effect became even higher.