Multiple Contracts Research Articles

Loan contract structure and adverse selection: Survey evidence from Uganda

While adverse selection is an important theoretical explanation for credit rationing it is difficult to quantify empirically. Many studies measure the elasticity of credit demand of existing or previous borrowers as opposed to the population at large; other studies use cross-sectional approaches that may confound borrower risk with other factors. We circumvent both issues by surveying a representative sample of microenterprises in urban Uganda and by measuring their responses to multiple hypothetical contract offers, varying in interest rates and collateral requirements. The two seminal theories on selection provide contradicting predictions following a change in the contractual terms. Under adverse selection, a lower interest rate or a lower collateral obligation should increase take up among less risky borrowers. By contrast, advantageous selection implies that take up should increase among the riskier borrowers. We test these two predictions by examining if firm owners respond to changes in the interest rate or the collateral requirement and whether higher take up varies by firms’ risk type. We find support for the presence of adverse selection as contracts with lower interest rates or lower collateral obligations increase hypothetical demand – especially for less risky firms. Our results imply that changes to the standard loan product available to microenterprises may have substantial effects on credit demand.

Risk assessment of different sourcing contract scenarios in project procurement

Procurement is an overlapping function between engineering and construction phases of engineering procurement and construction (EPC) projects. Due to these overlaps, procurement risks may have cascading effect on project cost and schedule overruns. Thus, management of procurement risk is important to avoid detrimental effect on the success of project. A project requires multiple items from multiple suppliers under multiple contracts, terms and conditions and risks exposure. This study proposes an integrated frame work, of 64 combinations comprising of type of item, type of buyer-supplier relationship, type of pricing regime and six types of procurement risks, to devise an optimal project procurement portfolio. Overall non-critical items pose the lowest and strategic items the highest levels of procurement risks to the project. Amongst types of buyer-supplier relationships, partnership sourcing has the lowest risk exposure. Amongst pricing regimes cost reimbursement has the highest risk exposure and fixed price has the least. For leverage, bottleneck and strategic items partnership sourcing type of buyer-supplier relationship with firm price, cost incentive and cost reimbursement pricing regime, respectively, emerge to be the best combination of procurement strategy. For non-critical items adoption of competitive arm’s length type of buyer-supplier relationship with firm pricing regime is suggested.

Data Sharing System Integrating Access Control Mechanism using Blockchain-Based Smart Contracts for IoT Devices

In this paper, a blockchain-based data sharing and access control system is proposed, for communication between the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The proposed system is intended to overcome the issues related to trust and authentication for access control in IoT networks. Moreover, the objectives of the system are to achieve trustfulness, authorization, and authentication for data sharing in IoT networks. Multiple smart contracts such as Access Control Contract (ACC), Register Contract (RC), and Judge Contract (JC) are used to provide efficient access control management. Where ACC manages overall access control of the system, and RC is used to authenticate users in the system, JC implements the behavior judging method for detecting misbehavior of a subject (i.e., user). After the misbehavior detection, a penalty is defined for that subject. Several permission levels are set for IoT devices’ users to share services with others. In the end, performance of the proposed system is analyzed by calculating cost consumption rate of smart contracts and their functions. A comparison is made between existing and proposed systems. Results show that the proposed system is efficient in terms of cost. The overall execution cost of the system is 6,900,000 gas units and the transaction cost is 5,200,000 gas units.

Towards a social-cognitive theory of multiple psychological contracts

ABSTRACTPsychological contracts are typically conceptualized as an employee’s perceived terms of exchange with an employer. However, more and more researchers recognize that defining psychological contracts in such a unitary manner does not adequately reflect the complex nature of modern organizations and work. Most individuals likely maintain numerous work-related exchange relationships that are not necessarily confined within the boundaries of a single organization nor characterized by a traditional employment relationship. Contributing to this emerging body of research, we draw on social exchange and social cognition theories to begin developing a theory of multiple psychological contracts. Towards this end, we generate a series of propositions predicting that the relative likelihood of an individual holding a psychological contract with a particular individual, group, or organization as a counterparty is contingent upon degrees of perceived dependence, accountability and trust. We further predict the dynamic nature of the contents (relational, transactional, balanced or ideological) of these contracts and how it may evolve over time. As a whole, these propositions help explain how an individual’s attitudes and behaviours differ across psychological contracts and the exchange relationships they govern. This work provides an introductory foundation on which a more comprehensive body of future research can be built.

A Novel Urban Emergency Path Planning Method Based on Vector Grid Map

When an emergency occurs in the city, a large area of road congestion usually occurs. Therefore, it is particularly important to provide an effective emergency path planning strategy for vehicles. However, existing emergency path planning methods do not take into account the connectivity characteristics of the road network and commuting capacity. For this purpose, a Grid Map Emergency Path Planning (GMEPP) framework based on a novel model Grid Road Network (GRN) is designed in this paper. First, the road network data is divided into grids under equal spacing bands, and the roads data divided into different grids and use the commuting capacity of each road as the weight of each edge in the grid. Then a Grid PageRank (GPR) algorithm will be introduced, the output value of this methodology is calculated based on the capacity and number of connected edges of all vertices pointed by the external grid in each grid. The higher value of the grid will be recommended to users first when the path is planning. According to the GRN model, an improved Bidirectional Dijkstra will be applied to query the shortest path between two points, which is called Gird Bidirectional Dijkstra (GBD). At last, GMEPP uses Reverse Contraction Hierarchies (RCH) and Multiple Reverse Contraction Hierarchies (MRCH) originality methodologies based on intersection type to speed up the query algorithm GBD. To compare the efficiency of the proposed method, this paper conducted extensive experiments to verify. The results of the test showed that the Gird Bidirectional Dijkstra Multiple Reverse Contraction Hierarchies (GBD-MRCH) is better than other methods in different grid distributions.

On the Existence of Positive Equilibrium Profits in Competitive Screening Markets

We assume a fixed number of symmetric firms, competition in prices, constant returns to scale and frictionless consumer choices. Consumers differ in their preferences and profitability (e.g., due to heterogeneous risk aversion and loss probabilities), which creates adverse selection. Firms can offer multiple contracts to screen individuals, in equilibrium and in any deviation. We show that equilibrium profits vanish if each consumer has a unique optimising bundle at equilibrium prices or, more generally, if there exists a linear ordering over of contracts that dictates the preferences of firms whenever consumers are indifferent between multiple optimal contracts. For instance, equilibrium profits vanish if the marginal rate of substitution of quality for price is sharper for profit than for utility. In particular, profit also vanishes if utility equals the sum of (negative) profit, and a surplus (eg, due to risk aversion). We pro- vide examples of economies where there exists an equilibrium with strictly positive profit and show that these examples are robust (hold for an open set of economies).

A Distributed Privacy Preservation Approach for Big Data in Public Health Emergencies Using Smart Contract and SGX

Security and privacy issues have become a rapidly growing problem with the fast development of big data in public health. However, big data faces many ongoing serious challenges in the process of collection, storage, and use. Among them, data security and privacy problems have attracted extensive interest. In an effort to overcome this challenge, this article aims to present a distributed privacy preservation approach based on smart contracts and Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX). First of all, we define SGX as a trusted edge computing node, design data access module, data protection module, and data integrity check module, to achieve hardware-enhanced data privacy protection. Then, we design a smart contract framework to realize distributed data access control management in a big data environment. The crucial role of the smart contract was revealed by designing multiple access control contracts, register contracts, and history contracts. Access control contracts provide access control methods for different users and enable static access verification and dynamic access verification by checking the user’s properties and history behavior. Register contract contains user property information, edge computing node information, the access control and history smart contract information, and provides functions such as registration, update, and deletion. History contract records the historical behavior information of malicious users, receives the report information of malicious requestors from the access control contract, implements a misbehavior check method to determines whether the requestor has misbehavior, and returns the corresponding result. Finally, we design decentralized system architecture, prove the security properties, and analysis to verify the feasibility of the system. Results demonstrate that our method can effectively improve the timeliness of data, reduce network latency, and ensure the security, reliability, and traceability of data.

Cross-Comparison of EMG-to-Force Methods for Multi-DoF Finger Force Prediction Using One-DoF Training

Surface electromyography (sEMG) signal is one of the widely applied biological signals in the research field of the force intention prediction. However, due to the severe cross-talk issue of sEMG signals during fine hand contractions, few studies have related sEMG to multiple degree-of-freedom (DoF) force prediction of individual fingers simultanously. Accordingly, this study proposed methods mainly based on neural networks: Convolutional neural Network (CNN) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) to achieve better prediction results. Several improvements on traditional methods are also proposed in this article such as: Common Spatial Pattern (CSP), Softmax function and several new channel selection standards to solve the cross-talk issues for the estimation of EMG-force during multiple finger contractions. High-density sEMG signals of forearm extensor muscles were obtained, and experimental data from seven able-bodied subjects were analyzed. Subjects produced 1-DoF and Multi-DoF forces up to 30% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). Then, the root-mean-square values of sEMG were related to joint force. To realize a better practical use, the EMG-to-force models were trained with minimal numbers of trials (using 1-DoF trials only), then assessed on multi-DoF trials. Our results showed that the proposed modifications on traditional method also made an improvement on the prediction results. Our findings suggest that Multi-DoF control for individual fingers with minimal training procedure (using 1-DoF trials only) may be feasible for practical use. Furthermore, methods based on neural networks greatly outperform traditional methods and the combination of CNN and LSTM showed the best performance.

Fixed point theorems for multiplicative contraction mappings on multiplicative metric space

The purpose of this paper is to prove some fixed point theorems in multiplicative metric space using Kannan contraction mapping and other contraction mappings.

Successful Thoracoscopic Excision of Type 0 CPAM in a Newborn

Thoracoscopic excision of a Type 0 congenital pulmonary airway malformations (CPAM) is rarely described in literature. A 1-day-old female neonate presented with prenatal diagnosis of right lung CPAM. Mother had undergone fetoscopic thoracoamniotic shunt placement which led to radiographic resolution of large CPAM cyst. Soon after delivery, the patient developed multiple premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) that were thought to be secondary to retained shunts. Thoracoscopic excision of CPAM performed.

Multiple Contracts or One Contract? The ‘Reverse Divisibility’ and ‘Subsequent Modification’ Arguments for Expanding the Scope of Justified Non-Performance After Breach

The basic principles of divisibility that define the circumstances under which a single contractual agreement can be recharacterized as multiple separate agreements are well established and are standard fare in basic contract law courses and texts. However, little if any attention is paid in law school or in legal practice to the possibility of a person arguing for what one might call “reverse divisibility,” or “subsequent modification,” the recharacterization of a set of closely related (although facially separate) contracts among two or more parties as being a single contract. While people will often invoke divisibility arguments in an attempt to limit the justified non-performance consequences of a breach of contract on their part, a person may also seek to have a set of facially separate but closely related contracts recharacterized as a single contract in order to expand the scope of their own justified non-performance rights after a breach by the other party to the contract. This short article will discuss this possibility.

SWING OPTION PRICING BY DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING WITH B-SPLINE DENSITY PROJECTION

Swing options are a type of exotic financial derivative which generalize American options to allow for multiple early-exercise actions during the contract period. These contracts are widely traded in commodity and energy markets, but are often difficult to value using standard techniques due to their complexity and strong path-dependency. There are numerous interesting varieties of swing options, which differ in terms of their intermediate cash flows, and the constraints (both local and global) which they impose on early-exercise (swing) decisions. We introduce an efficient and general purpose transform-based method for pricing discrete and continuously monitored swing options under exponential Lévy models, which applies to contracts with fixed rights clauses, as well as recovery time delays between exercise. The approach combines dynamic programming with an efficient method for calculating the continuation value between monitoring dates, and applies generally to multiple early-exercise contracts, providing a unified framework for pricing a large class of exotic derivatives. Efficiency and accuracy of the method are supported by a series of numerical experiments which further provide benchmark prices for future research.

Fatigue Related Changes in Electromyographic Coherence between Homologous Vastus Lateralis Muscles

Background. The aim of this study was to examine changes in the coherence between EMG signals of homologous quadriceps (vastus lateralis, VL) muscles during in the beginning and the end of multiple sustained isometric bilateral contraction at maximal effort. Methods. Twelve young healthy males participated in the study. The increase in coherence between EMG signals of homologous VL muscles in alpha band, beta band and gamma band was observed during the performance of sustained maximal bilateral isometric contraction with simultaneous decreases in bilateral force, CAR. EMG frequency and EMG amplitude.Results. The increase in beta band coherence during sustained maximal isometric contraction was negatively correlated with the decrease in bilateral force, CAR, EMG amplitude and EMG frequency indicating the possible role of beta coherence to improve VL muscle activation efficiency during maximal bilateral isometric contraction and overcome the effects of VL muscle fatigue in young healthy males. Keywords: muscle fatigue, EMG coherence, bilateral contraction, common drive.

Integrated priority decision index for risk assessment in chaos: cost overruns in transport projects

Purpose Cost overrun is inherent to project chaos, which is one of the key drivers of project failure. The purpose of this paper is to explore the critical elements of complexity-risk interdependency for cost-chaos in the construction management domain by utilizing a multi-criteria decision model. Design/methodology/approach A total of 12 complexity and 60 risk attributes are initially identified from the literature and using expert’s judgements. For the development of a structured hierarchy of key complexity and risk drivers, a real-time Delphi process is adopted for recording and evaluating the responses from experts. Afterwards, a pair-wise comparison using analytical network processing is performed to measure complexity-risk interdependencies against cost alternatives. Findings The findings of the integrated priority decision index (IPDI) suggest that uncertainties related to contingency and escalation costs are the main sources of cost overrun in project drift, along with the key elements such as “the use of innovative technology,” “multiple contracts,” “low advance payment,” “change in design,” “unclear specifications” and “the lack of experience” appear to be more significant to chaos in complexity-risk interdependency network. Research limitations/implications This study did not address the uncertainty and vulnerability exit in the judgment process, therefore, this framework can be extended using fuzzy logic to better evaluate the significance of cost-chaos drivers. Practical implications These results may assist the management of cost overrun to avoid chaos in a project. The proposed model can be applied within project risk management practices to make better-informed technical decisions in the early phases of the project life cycle where uncertainty is high. Originality/value This research addresses the importance of cost overruns as a source of project chaos in dynamic systems where projects reach the edge of chaos and progress stops. A new IPDI index contributes toward evaluating the severity of complexity and risk and their interdependencies which create cost-chaos in infrastructure transport projects.

Dutch-Portuguese Diplomatic Encounters, 1640-1703: Exchanges, Sovereignty and “World Peace”

Abstract This article traces the multiplex relationships established between Portuguese ambassadors, consuls and extraordinary envoys in the Dutch Republic between 1640 and 1703 with the Portuguese kingdom, the king, the Portuguese “Nation” in Amsterdam and the Dutch States General. In negotiating multiple contracts and treaties regarding “world peace,” these men determined the course of history not so much because they were bound by the service of a state or a king but rather because they served a multiplicity of interests that often damaged national interest in favor of specific interest groups. The article focuses particularly on the Dutch-Portuguese clashes in Western Africa and Brazil and how their settlements impacted the Dutch-Portuguese power sharing in Asia, ultimately challenging premises of sovereignty at a global scale.

P3833Low heart rate variability is associated with future arrhythmic events in hypertension

Abstract Background/Introduction Cardiac autonomic dysfunction and target organ damage are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality and arrhythmias. Purpose The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of heart rate variability (HRV) and markers of target organ damage in the prognosis of future arrhythmic events. Methods We studied 292 untreated at baseline hypertensives (mean age 53±13, 153 males). Cardiac autonomic function was evaluated by analysis of short-term HRV measures over 24-h using 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and the standard deviation of the measurements. Echocardiography was also performed and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was estimated with the Demereux formula. Aortic stiffness was assessed with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and wave reflections with aortic augmentation index corrected for heart rate (Alx@75). Patients were followed up for a median period of 13 years. The primary endpoint was a composite of atrial/ventricular tachycardias, symptomatic multiple premature ventricular contractions, second and third-degree heart blocks and pacemaker/defibrillator placement. Results In comparison without events, patients with the primary endpoint (n=37, 13%) had lower 24-h daytime HRV (9.6 beats per minute vs. 11.1 beats per minute, p=0.005), higher systolic blood pressure (168 mmHg vs. 163 mmHg, p=0.003), higher cfPWV (8.4 m/s vs. 7.7 m/s, p=0.005), higher LVMI (133 g/m2 vs. 122 g/m2, p=0.002) and higher AIx@75 (29.0% vs. 26.3%, p=0.043). In further analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to evaluate the ability of HRV, cfPWV, LVMI and AIx@75 to discriminate subjects with arrhythmic events. The area under the curve (AUC) and 95% CIs of the ROC curves were AUC=0.35 (95% CI: 0.26–0.44, p=0.003) for HRV, AUC=0.64 (95% CI: 0.54–0.73, P<0.006) for cfPWV, AUC=0.67 (95% CI: 0.58–0.75, P=0.001) for LVMI and AUC=0.55 (95% CI: 0.47–0.64, P=0.298) for AIx@75 (Figure). In Cox regression analysis, only HRV was associated with increased risk of arrhythmic events (Hazard ratio per 1 unit =0.87, 95% Confidence intervals 0.76 to 0.995, p=0.043) when adjusted for age, gender, cfPWV, LVMI and AIx@75. ROC curves of HRV & target organ damage Conclusions Low heart rate variability is associated with increased risk of future arrhythmic events suggesting an early sympathovagal imbalance that could lead to future events in hypertension.

IGDT-Based Complementarity Approach for Dealing With Strategic Decision Making of Price-Maker VPP Considering Demand Flexibility

In this article, we outline a novel bilevel decision-making framework for a price-maker virtual power plant (VPP) to participate in both day-ahead and balancing oligopoly markets considering multiple forward contracts. In principle, the VPP operator with having the possession of financial transmission rights can manage its financial risk through trading electricity among various markets such as centralized pool and contract markets aimed at maximizing its own profit and minimizing the associated risk. Besides, the VPP operator will be able to optimize its procurement expenditures by incentivizing flexible demands proportion to different electricity tariffs. In the proposed bilevel model, the VPP aggregator strives to maximize its own profit at the upper level while an independent system operator seeks to clear both markets at the lower levels with an eye to maximize social welfare. Each lower level is then replaced by its complementarity slackness conditions and, consequently, is recast as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints that can be solved using off-the-shelf software packages. Furthermore, the uncertainty pertaining to renewables has been envisaged through information gap decision theory resulting in robustness/opportunity function to deal with self-scheduling of VPP. This article ends up with different illustrative case studies through performing after-the-fact actual market data to verify the applicability of the model.

ACO Contracts With Downside Financial Risk Growing, But Still In The Minority.

Success of the accountable care organization (ACO) model may require stronger financial incentives, such as including downside risk in contracts. Using the National Survey of ACOs, we explored ACO structure and contracts in 2012-18. Though the number of ACO contracts and the proportion of ACOs with multiple contracts have grown, the proportion bearing downside risk has increased only modestly.

Analysis of the Development of Islamic Home Financing History in Malaysia

Home is a need since ancient times hitherto. Nowadays, to acquire a home requires high capital until one needs to get funding from other party either from individual or institutional. As a result, financial institutions were established and involved in assisting buyers. In the context of Malaysia, the facility led to an establishment of a housing financing contract between bank and buyers since before the Independence Day. For Muslims, the contract was formulated to be Shariah compliance within conventional framework. Hence, this study aims to examine the development of Islamic housing financing contracts since before the independence hitherto. This study using a qualitative method in which the researchers have applied a library research method to obtain secondary data through books, journals and official websites. The study found that housing financing contracts have undergone a phase of change from a simple to a complex contract form by combining multiple contracts. The study also found that the financing contracts have undergone a transformation phase of Islamic-based products that are based on sale and purchase to Islamic based partnership products which were more in line with Shariah requirements. Housing financing products are also change to a better direction as Islamic banks as well as Shariah advisors always responded to any critics to improve their products.

Modelling decision making in digital supply chains: insights from the petroleum industry

PurposeThis paper aims to overcome some of the limitations of previous works regarding automated supply chain formation (SCF). Hence, it proposes an algorithm for automated SCF using multiple contract parameters. Moreover, it proposes a decision-making mechanism that provides means for incorporating risk in the decision-making process. To better emphasize the features of the proposed decision-making mechanism, the paper provides some insights from the petroleum industry. This industry has a strategic position, as it is the base for other essential activities of the economy of any country. The petroleum industry is faced with volatile feed-stock costs, cyclical product prices and seasonal final products demand.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have modeled the supply chain in terms of a cluster graph where the nodes are represented by clusters over the contract parameters that suppliers/consumers are interested in. The suppliers/consumers own utility functions and agree on multiple contract parameters by message exchange, directly with other participant agents, representing their potential buyer or seller. The agreed values of the negotiated issues are reflected in a contract which has a certain utility value for every agent. They consider uncertainties in crude oil prices and demand in petrochemical products and model the decision mechanism for a refinery by using an influence diagram.FindingsBy integrating the automated SCF algorithm and a mechanism for decision support under uncertainty, the authors propose a reliable and practical decision-making model with a practical application not only in the petroleum industry but also in any other complex industry involving a multi-tier supply chain.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of this approach reveals in situations where the parameters can take values over continuous domains. In these cases, storing the preferences for every agent might need a considerable amount of memory depending on the size of the continuous domain; hence, the proposed approach might encounter efficiency issues.Practical implicationsThe current paper makes a step forward to the implementation of digital supply chains in the context of Industry 4.0. The proposed algorithm and decision-making mechanism become powerful tools that will enable machines to make autonomous decisions in the digital supply chain of the future.Originality/valueThe current work proposes a decentralized mechanism for automated SCF. As opposed to the previous decentralized approaches, this approach translates the SCF optimization problem not as a profit maximization problem but as a utility maximization. Hence, it incorporates multiple parameters and uses utility functions to find the optimal supply chain. The current approach is closer to real life scenarios than the previous approaches that were using only cost as a mean for pairwise agents because it uses utility functions for entities in the supply chain to make decision. Moreover, this approach overcomes the limitations of previous approaches by providing means to incorporate risk in the decision-making mechanism.