Reasonable Penalties Research Articles

Exploring the evolutionary mechanism of the cross-regional cooperation of construction waste recycling enterprises: A perspective of complex network evolutionary game

Cooperation and information sharing among various regional departments play a crucial role in facilitating the equitable disposal of construction waste across regions, fostering regional coordination in waste management. This paper establishes the complex network evolutionary game model of cross-regional cooperation of construction waste recycling enterprises, and conducts numerical simulation to analyze the strategic adjustment process of recycling enterprises under the coordination and complementarity of market mechanism and government mechanism, and explores the Pareto optimal conditions that are conducive to cross-regional cooperation of recycling enterprises. The result indicates that with the increase of the market scale of cross-regional treatment of construction waste, it can effectively improve the willingness of cross-regional cooperation of recycling enterprises. In the market mechanism, both the profit distribution and synergistic benefit have a significant impact on the cross-regional cooperation behavior of construction waste recycling enterprises, while the impact of spillover benefit is relatively minor in comparison. In various network scales, the profit distribution coefficients exhibit threshold values within the ranges of 0.3–0.35, 0.25 to 0.3, and 0.25 to 0.3, respectively. Within the government mechanism, the government subsidy coefficient falls within the threshold of 0.3–0.4. Notably, greater government support proves more conducive to advancing cross-regional cooperation among recycling enterprises. For small-scale and medium-scale markets, there exists a threshold for default penalties ranging between 4 and 5. In contrast, large-scale markets have a default penalty threshold between 3 and 4. Imposing reasonable penalties for contract breaches can effectively stimulate the sustainable and consistent development of cross-regional cooperation among recycling enterprises. These findings establish a foundation for shaping cross-regional cooperation strategies for recycling enterprises, enhancing the efficiency of construction waste treatment, and fostering the coordinated development of urban areas.

EFFECTS OF THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS ON THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR MEMBERS IN VINTAR, ILOCOS NORTE, PHILIPPINES

This study determined the effects of the products and services of Microfinance Institutions on the economic development of their members in Vintar, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. The descriptive correlational research design was adopted using a survey questionnaire to gather data. A total of 603 respondents were involved. They were taken from the members of two Microfinance Institutions (CARD Bank Inc. and ASA Philippines Foundation Inc.,) in Vintar, Ilocos Norte, Philippines who have been a member for at least two years. The study was delimited into the top three barangays with the most members which are composed of Barangays Parut, Alejo Malasig, and Pedro F. Alviar. Frequency, percentage, weighted mean, Chi-square test, and Pearson r of correlation were used to analyze and interpret the data gathered. The following were the highlights of the findings of the study. The MFIs are giving their members quality products offered on loan applications and loan features as manifested by a very satisfied and satisfied rating of their members, respectively, as it is significantly and positively related to their economic development. The MFI members’ economic development in terms of financial, personal, and business status are significantly and highly related to their level of satisfaction with the customer services offered by the MFIs. The MFI’s services offered have met the satisfaction level of their members as expressed by a rating of very satisfied and satisfied on customer service and non-financial services, respectively. It was recommended that: On the part of Microfinance Institutions, they should consider the financial status of their members in terms of the reasonable service fee, and allow repayment and reasonable penalties for nonpayment/default to lessen their burden on their expenses, microfinance institutions should also conduct community development projects in different municipalities to increase their members' economic development, and microfinance institutions should provide business training to improve or expand their members’ business strategies. On the part of the members, they should pay their payments on time and actively participate in the activities of the MFIs. On the part of future researchers, they may also conduct studies in other places that offer products and services of Microfinance Institutions, they may also consider other variables, such as their incentives and benefits.

Spatial-Division Multiplexing Approach for Simultaneous Detection of Fiber-Optic Ball Resonator Sensors: Applications for Refractometers and Biosensors.

Fiber-optic ball resonators are an attractive technology for refractive index (RI) sensing and optical biosensing, as they have good sensitivity and allow for a rapid and repeatable manufacturing process. An important feature for modern biosensing devices is the multiplexing capacity, which allows for interrogating multiple sensors (potentially, with different functionalization methods) simultaneously, by a single analyzer. In this work, we report a multiplexing method for ball resonators, which is based on a spatial-division multiplexing approach. The method is validated on four ball resonator devices, experimentally evaluating both the cross-talk and the spectral shape influence of one sensor on another. We show that the multiplexing approach is highly efficient and that a sensing network with an arbitrary number of ball resonators can be designed with reasonable penalties for the sensing capabilities. Furthermore, we validate this concept in a four-sensor multiplexing configuration, for the simultaneous detection of two different cancer biomarkers across a widespread range of concentrations.

Optimization of Financial Penalties for Environmental Pollution by Chinese Traditional Energy Enterprises

The formulation of proper financial penalties plays an important role in regulating Chinese traditional energy enterprises’ illegal pollution. Through the construction of a mixed-strategy game model and an evolutionary game model for regulatory agencies and traditional energy enterprises, the article studies how financial penalties impact players’ strategies and evolutionary processes to optimize financial penalties. It found that excessive financial penalties could reduce enforcement, but insufficient financial penalties would cause more pollution discharge violations. The article concludes that Chinese environmental laws should focus more on setting reasonable penalties based on the profit from activities that generate illegal pollution rather than on the environmental damage to improve regulatory effectiveness.

Fused-fiber-based 3-dB mode insensitive power splitters for few-mode optical fiber networks

We propose a 3-dB mode insensitive power splitter (MIPS) capable of broadcasting and combining optical signals. It is fabricated with two identical few-mode fibers (FMFs) by a heating and pulling technique. The mode-dependent power transfer characteristic as a function of pulling length is investigated. For exploiting its application, we experimentally demonstrate both FMF-based transmissive and reflective star couplers consisting of multiple 3-dB mode insensitive power splitters, which perform broadcasting and routing signals in few-mode optical fiber networks such as mode-division multiplexing (MDM) local area networks using star topology. For experimental demonstration, optical on-off keying signals at 10 Gb/s carried on three spatial modes are successfully processed with open and clear eye diagrams. Measured bit error ratio results show reasonable power penalties. It is found that a reflective star coupler in MDM networks can reduce half of the total amount of required fibers comparing to that of a transmissive star coupler. This MIPS is more efficient, more reliable, more flexible, and more cost-effective for future expansion and application in few-mode optical fiber networks.

Quest for Optimal Bonus-Malus in Automobile Insurance in Developing Economies: An Actuarial Perspective

This paper evaluates the bonus-malus system in practice in the Nigerian motor insurance industry. It would appear that the regulation is a bit fluid so that what actually looks like a bonus-malus system is more like a rule of thumb as operators do not honor the industry agreed tariff. This paper constructs an alternative bonus-malus scale that has reasonable penalties and that is yet commercially feasible. The model can easily be replicated for other developing economies.

Mechanism Design for Quality Control in ATO Supply Chain with Mixed Inspection

This paper studies how to design a mechanism to control the quality of final product and components. Considering that ATO supply chain is composed of multiple component suppliers and a manufacturer, which is the core company and uses incoming inspection and quality tracing to control the quality of components, we presented a quality control model of ATO supply chain and obtain the optimal quality control mechanism consisting of component purchase prices, penalties on defect. We find that the manufacturer will choose the optimal quality level of ATO supply chain; the manufacturer can stimulate suppliers to choose the optimal quality levels of ATO supply chain through designing a reasonable purchase prices and penalties when their reservation payoffs are small, otherwise, it will design a profit transfer mechanism to modify the quality control mechanism, as a result, suppliers will choose the optimal quality levels and the manufacturer’s profit will be maximized.

Monolithically integrated 80-gb/s AWG-based all-optical wavelength converter

We present a monolithically integrated all-optical wavelength converter. The converter consists of four semiconductor optical amplifiers for four separate inputs and an arrayed-waveguide grating. Error-free wavelength conversion with reasonable penalties for a 27 -1 pseudorandom binary sequence was shown for a single input 80-Gb/s signal. The device exploits cross-gain/phase modulation in a single amplifier and selects with a filter the blue-chirped spectrum of the new wavelength signal in order to speed up the device response. This device has a dimension of 1.7times3.5 mm2 and it can be operated to convert simultaneously four 80-Gb/s wavelength channels

Bonus-Malus scales using exponential loss functions

This paper focuses on techniques for constructing Bonus-Malus systems in third party liability automobile insurance. Specifically, the article presents a practical method for constructing optimal Bonus-Malus scales with reasonable penalties that can be commercially implemented. For this purpose, the symmetry between the overcharges and the undercharges reflected in the usual quadratic loss function is broken through the introduction of parametric asymmetric loss functions of exponential type. The resulting system possesses the desirable financial stability property.

Law Firms, Competition Penalties, and the Values of Professionalism

Virtually all courts that have considered the issue have held that law firms cannot enforce agreements that impose reasonable financial penalties on lawyers who leave the firm and take clients with them. This is the case despite the fact that practice organizations in all other professions, such as medicine, accounting, and engineering, are able to enforce such provisions. The Article uses this resistance as the vehicle for exploring broader issues relating to concerns about the loss of professionalism in modern law practice. The first is the common tendency to dichotomize between law practice as a business and as a profession. This distinction ignores the complex ways in which these two dimensions of practice are intertwined. In particular, the use of business measures that make a law firm more efficient may create a competitive advantage that affords an opportunity for the firm to further non-economic values. The second issue is the failure to appreciate that the concept of professionalism involves multiple values: (1) devotion to the client's interest (2) the control over work exercised by the practitioner of a craft and (3) the exercise of independent judgment as a steward of the legal system. These values have the potential to be either conflicting or complementary. An assessment of developments in law practice thus must examine the extent to which the realization of specific values in particular settings may be furthered or hindered by such developments. A final point is the potential importance of law firms in providing an opportunity for lawyers to reconcile these values in daily practice. The Article argues that enforcing reasonable penalties can provide law firms with the economic stability that enables them to sustain a distinct institutional culture that is not wholly market-driven. This perspective underscores that allegiance to professional values is not simply a matter of individual character, but is dependent in important ways on larger organizational structures of law practice. In short, realizing the values of professionalism may be more of a collective, rather than individual, achievement in the dynamic and tumultuous world of contemporary practice.

Penalties for SDWA and CWA violations

From reasonable penalties to deliberate overkill, USEPA has imposed sanctions on water utilities that violate the Safe Drinking Water Act or the Clean Water Act.Although the number of enforcement actions against water suppliers to date has been limited, increasing regulation means that utilities are more likely to face US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) sanctions under the Safe Drinking Water Act and, to some extent, the Clean Water Act. In this article the author reviews possible criminal and civil actions—the latter consisting of administrative and court actions and citizens' suits—and briefly describes eight cases that exemplify various enforcement actions taken in the last few years. Large monetary penalties are not USEPA's usual goal in acting against a water supplier unless the supplier deliberately makes false reports. Instead, USEPA usually seeks to impose fines that match the amount a violator saved by not complying with regulations. Reorganization last fall at USEPA created the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, which indicates the agency's intention to streamline enforcement efforts.