Resource Allocation Perspective Research Articles

Foreign Bank Penetration, Resource Allocation and Economic Growth: Evidence from Emerging Economies

This paper examines the implications of foreign bank penetration on economic growth from the perspective of resource allocation in host countries. We use aggregate banking data, constructed from bank-level balance sheets and income statement information covering more than 1200 banks in the 35 emerging economies of Asia, Latin America and Eastern and Central Europe for the period from 1996 to 2003. By applying the pooled OLS and fixed-effects models, we present consistent evidence that the effect of gross fixed capital formation on output growth is higher in an economy with a more pronounced level of foreign bank penetration relative to an economy with a lower level of foreign bank penetration. This finding suggests that foreign banks play an important role in allocating capital in a more productive way, thus leading to a higher economic growth rate. One of the main policy implications of our findings in this paper is that foreign banks may serve as a channel in enhancing economic integration of emerging economies with advanced economies that are the home countries of foreign banks.

When Does Teamwork Translate Into Improved Team Performance? A Resource Allocation Perspective

Drawing on resource allocation theory, the authors examined boundary conditions for the positive effects of two aspects of teamwork (backing up behavior and performance monitoring) on team performance. Participants were 276 undergraduate business students who were organized into 69 teams and who worked on a computer simulation across multiple performance episodes. Approximately half the teams experienced a workload distribution problem. Results indicated that performance monitoring had positive effects on team performance when teams experienced a workload distribution problem. Backing up behavior had positive effects only when teams had both a workload distribution problem and during early performance episodes. The findings of this study suggest that resource allocation theory can provide insights regarding when members should devote and coordinate their own individual resources to assist others in teams. The implications of these findings for future theory and practice regarding teamwork are discussed.

A cost-based comparison of quarantine strategies for new emerging diseases

A classical epidemiological framework is used to provide a preliminary cost analysis of the effects of quarantine and isolation on the dynamics of infectious diseases for which no treatment or immediate diagnosis tools are available. Within this framework we consider the cost incurred from the implementation of three types of dynamic control strategies. Taking the context of the 2003 SARS outbreak in Hong Kong as an example, we use a simple cost function to compare the total cost of each mixed (quarantine and isolation) control strategy from a public health resource allocation perspective. The goal is to extend existing epi-economics methodology by developing a theoretical framework of dynamic quarantine strategies aimed at emerging diseases, by drawing upon the large body of literature on the dynamics of infectious diseases. We find that the total cost decreases with increases in the quarantine rates past a critical value, regardless of the resource allocation strategy. In the case of a manageable outbreak resources must be used early to achieve the best results whereas in case of an unmanageable outbreak, a constant-effort strategy seems the best among our limited plausible sets.

Spatial forecasting of residential urban fires: A Bayesian approach

The application of GIS-based techniques to analyse incident data such as crime has received a relatively large amount of research interest, the analysis of disaggregate fire incident data, in comparison has been the focus of much less attention. This paper, for the first time applies a Bayesian methodology to generate disaggregate spatial forecasts of residential household fires across metropolitan South-East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. Expected counts of fire for a one year period are calculated for each suburbs across the SEQ region where the expected risk varies from 2 or less fires per year up to 25 fires per year. The application of the Bayesian forecast methodology has the potential to inform policy decisions both from a reactive, resource allocation perspective and a more proactive perspective, such as through spatial targeting to implement preventative measures to reduce fire risk.

Cost-effectiveness of varenicline compared with nicotine patches for smoking cessation—results from four European countries

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the cost-effectiveness of varenicline with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation in four European countries (Belgium, France, Sweden and the UK). Markov simulations, using the Benefits of Smoking Cessation on Outcomes (BENESCO) model, were performed. We simulated the incidence of four smoking-related morbidities: lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease and stroke. The model computes quality-adjusted life-years gained and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. Incremental cost-utility ratios were calculated, adopting a lifetime perspective. Efficacy data were obtained from a randomized open-label trial: Week 52 continuous abstinence rates were 26.1% for varenicline and 20.3% for NRT. The analyses imply that for countries analysed, smoking cessation using varenicline versus NRT was associated with reduced smoking-related morbidity and mortality. The number of morbidities avoided, per 1000 smokers attempting to quit, ranged from 9.7 in Belgium to 6.5 in the UK. The number of quality-adjusted life-years gained, per 1000 smokers, was 23 (Belgium); 19.5 (France); 29.9 (Sweden); and 23.7 (UK). In all base-case simulations (except France), varenicline dominated (more effective and cost saving) NRT regarding costs per quality-adjusted life-year gained; for France the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was 2803. This cost-effectiveness analysis demonstrated that since varenicline treatment was more effective, the result was increased healthcare cost savings in Belgium, Sweden and the UK. Our results suggest that funding varenicline as a smoking cessation aid is justifiable from a healthcare resource allocation perspective.

The Use of Comaps to Explore the Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Fire Incidents: A Case Study in South Wales, United Kingdom*

This article reports on the results from a spatiotemporal analysis of disaggregate fire incident data. The innovative analysis presented here focuses on the exploration of spatial and temporal patterns for four principal fire incident categories: property, vehicle, secondary fires, and malicious false alarms. This research extends previous work on spatial exploration of spatiotemporal patterns by demonstrating the benefits of comaps and kernel density estimation in examining temporal and spatiotemporal dynamics in calls for services. Results indicate that fire incidents are not static in either time or space and that spatiotemporal variation is related to incident type. The application of these techniques has the potential to inform policy decisions both from a reactive, resource-allocation perspective and from a more proactive perspective, such as through spatial targeting of preventive measures. *We would like to thank the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service for access to the data on which the article is based. In particular, we thank Andy Marles and Dave Bennett of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service for their help and advice on various aspects of the data sets. The interpretations of the analysis, however, are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Service or any of its employees. The work uses 2001 Census and GIS boundary data obtained via MIMAS CASWEB and EDINA UKBORDERS; academic services both supported by ESRC and JISC. These data are copyright of the Crown and are reproduced with permission of the Controller of HMSO.

Multicast-aware power allocation in multiple spot-beam satellite communication systems

In this paper, we address the problem of user heterogeneity in satellite multicast from the perspective of resource allocation in a multiple spot-beam satellite system that supports both unicast and multicast flows. Satellite communication systems, with their wide-area coverage and direct access to large number of users, clearly have an inherent advantage in supporting multicast applications. In order to remain competitive against other broadband technologies, however, next generation satellite systems will be required to support both unicast and multicast flows and offer optimal sharing of system resources between these flows. We show that user heterogeneity across spot-beam queues may result in lower allocated session rates for active flows, and be perceived as unsatisfactory by potential users when both unicast and multicast flows are active in the system. We propose an optimization-based approach that allocates resources with the goal of smoothing user heterogeneity, and show that resulting session rates are higher on the average for both unicast and multicast flows. This is achieved through the re-distribution of system power among spot-beam queues, by taking into account the load on the queues and the channel states. We conclude that it is possible to increase the average session rates of multicast flows by 25–100%, and the rates of unicast flows by 15–40% compared to the pre-optimization levels. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evaluation of proposals of Belgian Social Security Institute for reimbursement of bone densitometry tests. Toward a costeffective strategy for osteoporosis screening?

The Belgian Social Security Institute (hereafter INAMI) proposes a list of conditions to be considered as a prerequisite for reimbursement of Bone Mineral Density (BMD) measurements. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the proposed criteria for identifying osteoporosis, and to gauge how useful they are for more rational application of densitometry tests. 3748 Caucasian women aged at least 50 years old were recruited consecutively from an outpatient university center, from the database of which all relevant data corresponding to the INAMI list of clinical factors, as well as patients' age, weight and height, were collected. BMD measurements using dual X-ray absorptiometry were reported at the spine and hip regions. Diagnostic accuracy was evaluated through measures of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). Additionally, from ROC analysis, benchmark values for age and body mass index were identified and then, used alone and in combination with the INAMI test, were applied to define various screening strategies. For each of them, associated costs per osteoporotic patient detected were estimated. Cost estimates refer only to the costs associated with the densitometric procedure from the perspective of the reimbursement health authorities. Applying INAMI criteria for detecting osteoporosis at any of the considered sites yielded sensitivity of 68.9%, specificity of 50.7%, PPV of 42.9% and NPV of 57.3%. Comparison of incremental costs per patient of the different strategies revealed that, with 67.1 Euros, the option of opening BMD coverage to women on the basis of the INAMI conditions would be more cost-effective than mass screening (90.1 Euros) or applying the age criterion alone (70.2 Euros). However, the BMI condition seems to act as a better indicator of risk than the INAMI criteria in those meeting the age condition (35.4 Euros). The accuracy of the INAMI proposal turns out to be quite unsatisfactory, and did not adequately cover the population at risk of osteoporosis. From a resource allocation perspective, the best strategy by far would be to recommend using concomitantly INAMI, age and BMI-selective criteria. Some adaptations could enhance the usefulness of the INAMI proposals as a selective approach for BMD referral and reimbursement.

Using resource allocation theory and dual‐task methods to increase the sensitivity of assessment in aphasia

Background: Quantifying the severity of language impairment and measuring change in language performance over time are two important objectives in the assessment of aphasia. The notion of cognitive effort as understood from a resource allocation perspective provides a potentially useful complement to traditional constructs employed in aphasia assessment.Aims: The series of experiments described in this paper used resource allocation theory and dual‐task methodology (1) to assess whether a language comprehension task (Story Retell Procedure) and a visual‐manual tracking task trade performance under dual‐task conditions, and (2) to investigate the potential utility of these methods in clinical assessment of aphasia. In Experiment 1, the validity of a difficulty manipulation of the SRP was investigated. In Experiments 2 and 3, the reliability and validity of the visual‐manual tracking task were evaluated. Experiment 4 investigated whether the two tasks trade performance under dual‐task conditions.Methods & Procedures: In Experiment 1, 20 normal participants listened to and retold stories presented by a normal speaker and speakers with mild, moderate, and severe aphasia. Participants' comprehension performance was measured by calculating the amount of information retold per unit time. In Experiment 2, root mean square (RMS) tracking error data were collected under fixed joystick displacement conditions. In Experiment 3, 20 normal participants performed single‐task tracking across 12 trials at each of three difficulty levels, and performance was evaluated in terms of RMS error. In Experiment 4, three groups of 20 normal individuals performed the tracking task while listening to stories told by the normal speaker and speakers with aphasia. Story retell performance was evaluated between subjects across three tracking difficulty levels and tracking performance was evaluated within subjects across story difficulty (normal, mild, moderate, and severe aphasia).Outcomes & Results: The results of Experiments 1–3 supported the reliability and validity of the difficulty manipulations for the story retell and tracking tasks. In Experiment 4, tracking performance was found to vary significantly across story difficulty, with subjects demonstrating better tracking performance while listening to stories told by a mildly aphasic speaker than during stories told by a speaker with moderate aphasia. There was no effect of tracking difficulty on story comprehension as measured by subsequent story retell performance.Conclusions: The results provide qualified support for both a resource allocation view of language performance in normal individuals and the potential utility of these methods in the assessment of aphasia. These conclusions, however, are mitigated by the finding of only a unidirectional (as opposed to bidirectional) performance trade, and by the fact that the effect of story difficulty on tracking performance was observed across only two levels of aphasia severity.

Sharing video on demand

We formulate the problem of video on demand ( VOD) from a resource allocation perspective. We introduce the decision element into a movie vending environment, which complements the current approaches. In contrast with the traditional resource allocation problems (e.g., machine scheduling), the problem possesses the distinctive batching property, which stands for the feasibility of several requests being served by one resource. First, we investigate the problem in an on-line fashion, namely, having to accept or reject a request for a movie without any knowledge about future requests. We show upper and lower bounds on the competitive ratio of on-line movie scheduling algorithms for a variety of scenarios depending on the notification time. In particular, when the length of the movie and the notification time on requests are linearly related, we present a simple competitive algorithm. Second, we propose a new approach— Shared VOD—which gives a more balanced functionality/price tradeoff than the two popular approaches full VOD and near VOD. In this approach, several users may share the same channels, but the movies are selected by the users themselves. In this framework, we evaluate a variety of on-line channel allocation algorithms under “typical” conditions. We compare these strategies to the off-line strategy, and show that the algorithm we introduce substantially outperforms the rest.

Evaluation of the simple calculated osteoporosis risk estimation (SCORE) in a sample of white women from Belgium

Identifying patients at risk of developing an osteoporosis-related fracture will continue to be a challenge. The “gold standard” for osteoporosis diagnosis is bone densitometry. However, economic issues or availability of the technology may prevent its use under a mass screening scenario. A risk assessment instrument, the “simple calculated osteoporosis risk estimation” (SCORE), has been reported to appropriately identify women likely to have low ( t score ≤−2 SD) bone mineral density (BMD) and who should be referred for bone densitometry. The aim of our study is to evaluate the discriminatory performance of SCORE in a random sample of postmenopausal white women from Belgium. For this purpose, we gathered medical data on 4035 consecutive patients aged ≥45 years, either consulting spontaneously or referred for a BMD measurement to an outpatient osteoporosis center located at the University of Liège, Belgium. BMD measurements, using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) technology, were taken at the hip (total and neck) and lumbar spine (L2–4). At the recommended cutoff point of 6, SCORE had a sensitivity of 91.5% to detect low BMD at any of the measured sites, a specificity of 26.5%, a positive predictive value of 52.8%, and a negative predictive value of 77.7%. According to SCORE, 18% of the patients would not be recommended for densitometry. Among these, 10.9% were misclassified as they had osteoporosis ( t score ≤−2.5 SD) at one or more of the sites investigated. The negative predictive errors of SCORE, when failing to detect osteoporosis, were only 1% for the total hip, 3.2% for the femoral neck, and 8.8% for the lumbar spine. We conclude that, notwithstanding the high values of sensitivity, SCORE specificity is too low to be useful as a diagnostic tool for screening patients at high risk to later develop osteoporosis. Nevertheless, from a resource allocation perspective, this instrument can be used with relative confidence to exclude patients who do not need a BMD measurement, and would therefore provide an opportunity to realize substantial cost savings in comparison to a mass screening strategy.

RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN PUBLIC POLICY: THE EFFECTS OF THE 65‐MPH SPEED LIMIT

In 1987 the U.S. government allowed states to raise speed limits to 65‐mph on some highways. We evaluate the consequences using a resource allocation perspective: the chance to drive faster reallocates traffic from side roads to the safer interstate highways, and a higher speed limit permits highway patrols to shift manpower from speed enforcement to other safety activities. This perspective implies that we should measure the effect of a speed limit by its systemwide rather than its local effects. We do so and find that the fatality rate dropped by 3.49%‐5.1% following the speed limit increase. (JEL A10, R40)

Soft handoffs in CDMA mobile systems

This article presents an overview of soft handoff, an idea which is becoming quite important because of its use in the IS-95 code-division multiple access (CDMA) cellular phone standard. The benefits and disadvantages of using soft handoff over hard handoff are discussed, with most results drawn from the available literature. The two most well-known benefits are fade margin improvement and higher uplink capacity, while disadvantages include increased downlink interference and more complex implementation. Handoff parameter optimization is extremely important, so various studies on the trade-offs to be considered when selecting these parameters are surveyed, from both the link quality and resource allocation perspectives. Finally, research directions and future trends are discussed.

Goal setting, conditions of practice, and task performance: A resource allocation perspective.

Hypotheses regarding the influence of goal assignments on performance of a novel, complex task under varying conditions of practice were derived from a cognitive resource allocation model. Goals and type of practice interacted in their effects on two key performance measures. In the massed-practice conditions, trainees assigned specific, difficult goals tended to perform poorer than trainees in the contorl (do your best goal) conditions. In the spaced-practice conditions, goal trainees performed marginally better than control trainees. Self-report measures of goal commitment, and ontak, off-task, and affective thoughts during breaks and task performance provide additional evidence for the independent and interactive effects of goals and practice conditions on motivation and performance

Goal setting, conditions of practice, and task performance: A resource allocation perspective.

Goal setting, conditions of practice, and task performance: A resource allocation perspective.

Resource Allocation in Classrooms: an Economic Analysis

In recent years economists have given increasing attention to the ways in which resources of one kind and another are used to.produce student learning. Much of this work involves efforts to estimate statistically the magnitude of relationships between the supply of a particular resource, such as a teacher aide, a more rather than a less intensively trained teacher, or a programme of computer-assisted instruction, and subsequent gains in pupil performance. Recent developments in this area of research are generating important insights into differences among students in the types of resources they are most able to use for learning. In light of this, it might appear that educational productivity could be enhanced simply by encouraging teachers and curriculum developers to emphasize the use of resources they know to be the most productive. However, such a policy appears to neglect the fact that teachers exercise considerable discretion over how resources are ultimately allocated within classrooms, as well as the possibility that teachers may distribute resources among students for reasons that have little to do with expected short-term gains in pupil performance. Until we understand more about the way resources are actually distributed among students within educational systems, our ability to devise policies with the potential of improving educational efficiency will be severely constrained. A similar problem arises when efforts are made by curriculum analysts to promote the use of instructional innovations in schools and classrooms. Here analysts are sensitive to the potential of costly material resources to remain unused over time, despite admonitions to the contrary and despite extensive efforts to provide in-service training in the uses of the materials in question. Part of the frustration that accompanies efforts to introduce instructional innovations may stem directly from an imperfect understanding of the dilemmas teachers encounter when they attempt to distribute scarce instructional resources among students within their classrooms. This paper addresses these problems by conducting an economic analysis of the allocation of resources within classrooms. The choice of a within-classroom analysis is motivated by two reasons. First, little is known about classrooms from a resourceallocation perspective since economists, with some notable exceptions, have been more concerned with the allocation of resources at higher levels of decision-making. Second, since classrooms constitute the context in which resources actually flow to students, it seems particularly appropriate to examine issues of equity and efficiency at the classroom level. An economic perspective is adopted, in part because so little

General government management capability : The federal responsibility

The National Government must concern itself with State and I.ocal government management capability. Management capability is defined as directing roles of general government elected officials and senior-level managers. The Federal Government's interest in State and local management is based on the national government's dependence on these other jurisdictions for actual administration and delivery of services. The Federal Government is also a major cause of such management capability deficiences as exist at the State and local level. Despite recognition of need, little commitment has been made by the Federal Government to improve the central machinery of State and local government. There is no established data base from which to appraise the quality of current State and local management. The available assessments of personnel management, budgeting and accounting, policy analysis, and evaluation systems indicate that there is far to go in providing State and local chief executives with adequate management a...