Terms Of Price Research Articles

Dual role of the country factors in international asset pricing: The local factors and proxies for the global factors

Considering that the popular Fama–French–Carhart (FFC) factors are actually long–short stock portfolios, we (i) test if the FFC six country factors are globalized, (ii) compare the pricing performance of the global, country, and local (orthogonalized) factors, and (iii) examine the pricing implications of the globalized country factors. We find: Most country factors are significantly globalized as measured by R2 from regressing the country factors on the global factors. The R2, however, varies greatly across countries and factor types, ranging from 0.03 for the Hong Kong value factor to 0.88 for the U.S. market factor during 1990–2017. In terms of asset pricing, the country factors perform the best and the local factors the worst. The well-known outperformance of the country factors over the global factors in pricing arises from the “dual role” the country factors play in partially integrated markets, i.e., the country-specific local factors and proxies for the global factors.

A simple computerized Arduino-based control system for insect rotary flight mills.

Flight mills are widely used to investigate insect flight behavior. As technology advances, the means to build a computerized control system for a flight mill has become more accessible in terms of both price and availability of components. However, the specialized electronics and programming knowledge required to build such a system can still present an obstacle to interested parties. Here, we describe a simple and inexpensive flight mill control system that can be easily assembled and operated without specialized experience. The hardware and software components are built around an Arduino single-board microcontroller, which outputs raw data in the form of timestamped detections of rotations of the flight mill arm. This control system is suitable both as the basis for new flight mills and for replacing outdated computer controls on existing flight mills. Additionally, it can be used with any rotary flight mill design that uses an electronic sensor to count rotations.

Electrical conductivity of graphene/Si3N4 doped PLA produced by fused filament fabrication

Today, the technological, scientific and industrial use of micro- or nano-scale products has rapidly expanded. Nanoparticles are added to metal, ceramic and polymer materials to produce nanocomposite materials. Polymer matrix nanocomposites have advantages over other materials in terms of weight, performance and price. As known from the literature, imparting electrical conductivity to thermoplastic materials such as polylactic acid (PLA) is possible. The industrial use of thermoplastic matrix has been the focus of nanocomposites due to its low cost, ease of production and recycling. Research on the use of 3D printers in the production of nanoscale-doped thermoplastics has been less common. 3D printing is an additive manufacturing method compared to traditional processing methods. Additive manufacturing is based on adding layer by layer to reduce production costs and reduce the production cycle. This study prepared nanocomposite material by adding nano-sized graphene and Si3N4 to PLA material at 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 wt. %. The prepared polymer matrix nanocomposite groups were produced using a fused filament fabrication (FFF-3D) printer and their electrical conductivity was examined at the five different points by the four-point probe method. According to the test results, the electrical conductivities of 1 and 2 % doped PLA are very close. But the 1 % doped samples is the composite group with the best conductivity with a value of 153.44 S/m. A value of 151.25 S/m followed this for 2 % doped PLA and 138.57 S/m for 3 % doped PLA. Thus, it was concluded that the electrical conductivity was reduced with the increased dope rate. Also, all samples' hardness was measured by the Shore D test. Although the increase in the hardness value of the samples did not affect as much as the increase in the dope ratio, the hardness values increased with the increase in the nanoadditive ratio.

The novel Megawatt Charging System standard: Impact on battery size and cell requirements for battery-electric long-haul trucks

The new Megawatt Charging System (MCS) standard will enable battery electric trucks (BETs) to recharge a large share of their battery during mandatory rest periods in the EU. We investigated the impact of this new standard on the required battery size and the cell properties required to reach functional parity with a diesel truck (DT) for various operation strategies. EU truck driving regulations allow a one-stop operating strategy, in which a truck can be charged during the mandatory 45-minute break following 4.5 h of driving. In addition, we analyze the impact of additional charging stops and relaxing EU regulations by allowing free distribution of rest durations. For the one-stop operating strategy, we find that a charging power of at least 761 kW is needed to match the operating patterns with a 798 kWh battery. Higher charging powers are only beneficial in terms of downsizing the battery if multi-stop-strategies are deployed. In our scenarios, a charging power of 2802 kW is the highest beneficial charging power, which is significantly lower than the proposed MCS standard and suggests that the maximal charging power of 3.75 MW in the MCS standard is oversized for the long-haul truck application. The resulting cell requirements for achieving package capability, payload-, lifetime and total cost of ownership (TCO) parity demonstrate that multi-stop-strategies benefit from a smaller battery size in terms of cell price, volumetric and gravimetric energy density, but pose higher requirements on C-Rate, charging power and cycle stability. State of the art automotive cells are close to reach the required gravimetric and volumetric energy densities, but need to improve their cycle stability.

Customer Experience Analysis Skincare Products Through Social Media Data Using Topic Modeling and Sentiment Analysis

Currently, skin care products (skincare) are popular among the public. Both men and women are interested in buying skin care products. Moreover, there are many brands of skin care products that are divided into several types of facial and body care, such as moisturizers, toners, cleansers, and masks. Therefore, many consumers take the time to find information, for example, in terms of price, quality, and brand for decision-making. A lot of useful information is in the form of Twitter messages known as tweets which are sent from people who use skin care products because Twitter is one of the online social media where users can share their opinions and experiences. However, consumers still have to spend a lot of time searching, reading, and understanding the comprehensive collection of tweets before buying skin care products.The purpose of this study is to analyze customer experience, analyzing automated tweets about skin care products. Tweets about skin care products will be subjected to a topic modeling process to find out what topics are being discussed. In addition, the topics that have been obtained will be subject to sentiment analysis in the form of positive and negative messages for skin care products. Consumers who are app users don’t waste time reading and analyzing large amounts of data manually and they can decide to buy skin care products more easily.The results of this study obtained 14 topics of discussion related to skincare. Meanwhile, the sentiment analysis results of 14 topics resulted in more positive sentiment class tweets overall. It related the category topic that has the number of tweets to the importance of skincare. In addition, categories related to ingredients for skincare products from nature, namely fruits and spices, are the topics that have the second highest number of tweets. The results of the analysis of tweets related to user experience on Twitter, it was found that users prefer skincare products that use ingredients from nature.

PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF ONLINE SHOPPING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON THE ONLINE SHOPPING BEHAVIOR OF MILLENNIALS AND GEN Z’s

The descriptive quantitative study is a combination of the context of business and psychology. It examined the perceived benefits of online shopping affecting the behavior of online millennial and Gen Z consumers. Particularly, the researchers also investigated the advantages of online buying including price, convenience, and product variety. 160 college students from St. Paul University Surigao participated in the study. An adopted survey questionnaire developed by Arora and Aggarwal (2018) was used to gather data. Mean & Standard Deviation, Frequency Count & Percent Distribution, and Analysis of Variance were the statistical tools utilized to analyze the collected data. In terms of product variety, millennials' and Gen Zs’ behavior while shopping online resulted in high levels of satisfaction. This implies that they are really pleased with the variety of products they purchased online. Millennials and Gen Zs are satisfied as well in terms of convenience and price. Thus, they are very likely to shop online because of these three benefits. It is therefore implied that with the easiness and convenience, affordable price, and variety of products online, millennial and Gen Z shoppers are enticed and attracted to shop more online as they are highly satisfied every time they do it. On the other hand, the participants’ age, residence, parents' income, kind of internet connection, and device used somewhat influenced their purchasing pleasure. Consumers may continue to buy online because there is a wide selection of products available, prices that are competitive and friendly to one's budget, and the fact that shopping online is handy. Customers who shop online can access online businesses and buy things using modern electronic devices. Since mobile data is less expensive, online shoppers may continue utilizing it to do online purchasing.

Recent trends in sustainable modelling for hydrogen production and utilization

Hydrogen is a promising candidate for the future of energy and global economic security owing to its cost-efficient clean and environmentally friendly nature. The utilisation of hydrogen is, however, not without obstacles. Technology maturity and the unattractive market are some of the challenges. Before hydrogen can be used on a large-scale basis, critical technical challenges need to be addressed, such as the economical production and transportation and storage issues. In terms of energy prices, hydrogen is an inexpensive fuel. Ideally, a vehicle run on hydrogen reduces the cost per kilometre with better mileage than that of fuelled with fossil fuel. Electric vehicles run on hydrogen fuel cells, for instance, offer several performance improvements over conventional internal combustion engines. This includes better fuel efficiency and relatively less noise operation, yet one of the important technical challenges is onboard hydrogen storage. In this review article, recent trends in modeling for hydrogen production and utilization are addressed in detail.

The Role of Dividend Policy on Stock Price Volatility: An analysis and Evidence from Pakistan

This study looked at how dividend policies affected the partial in volatility price of firms that are registered on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). As a result, this research collected information from 15 organizations over 15 years, from 2004 to 2019, for three variables, using a second technique and a quantitative study design. The study's variables included the volatility in terms of price share as the left handed variables and on the right side the ratio of dividend payout, yield of dividend, and DPR. In E-Views software we employed the analysis of regression and correlation techniques. As this paper concluded, the overall impact of policy of dividend with regard to share price volatility was considerable. These factors were important on their own, with DY influencing price volatility in positive impact and DPR having a negative effect. Numerous earlier researches carried out in Pakistan and other places provided additional support for the findings.

Understanding the Challenges Faced by Fish Vendors in Iriga City Public Market

This study aimed to determine the factors affecting the profitability of fish vendors in Iriga City Public Market. The researchers identified the profile of the respondents in terms of gender, age, civil status, family income, and years of doing business. They also determined the factors affecting profitability in terms of product, price, demand, supply, and competition. Findings showed that most fish vendors were female, aged 41-50 years old, married, and had a weekly family income of Php. 500-Php. 1,000. Some vendors had been in business for 10 years, while others were just starting. The product in the market met the needs of customers, while the price was practical and affected by inflation. Demand for fish products was met, and supply was able to keep up with customer demand. Competition was also a factor. The researchers proposed programs to enhance the financial management of fish vendors. The study concluded that the factors affecting profitability were the product offered, price, demand and supply, and competition. The proposed programs could help fish vendors address challenges that affect their profitability. The study recommended that fish vendors should be knowledgeable in pricing strategies, demand and supply factors, and fair competition.

A life-cycle asset management model by response surface method based optimization

Conventional asset management is easily trapped in local optimization. This study integrates the maintenance strategic planning in the asset management scheme to minimize the annualized Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Critical steps are considered in the proposed model including failure rate modeling, reliability modeling for preventive maintenance, and TCO modeling. Monte Carlo simulation and response surface methodology are used as an integrated solution approach for the proposed model. The case study in a cement manufacturing plant shows that the model delivers the desired optimization result. Sensitivity analysis is carried out in terms of equipment contribution, clinker price, and escalation rate. The developed model contributes to the optimum combination of preventive maintenance strategy and useful life which provides the minimum annualized TCO.

Shopeefood Application During Covid-19 For Promotion And Service Quality On Consumer Purchase Decisions

Global advances result in fierce rivalry. Customers are acquired and retained via many means. Good service quality is one of the techniques employed by businesses to win the competition. Customers are interested in purchasing a product or service due of the high level of service. This study was carried out at Bandung Islamic University to assess the impact of price, promotion, and service quality on consumer purchasing decisions for the ShopeeFood application during the Covid19 period. This study's sample included 69 students from Bandung Islamic University, and the data collected was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) techniques. According to the study results, ShopeeFood is still the top option for Bandung Islamic University students in terms of price, promotions, and service quality. This promotion is the major goal of students who rely on ShopeeFood to survive. Furthermore, one of the good benefits received by Bandung Islamic University students is the quality of service for drivers. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to offer competitive costs, focus on user advantages, and improve service.

The Influence of "Pastoral Feminism" on Women's Values in Terms of Bride Price -- A Case Study of Little Red Book

With the development of the economy and the improvement of people's education level, Chinese women are constantly awakening their awareness of rights and fighting for their own rights under the influence of feminism. However, as the influence of feminism has expanded in China, some Chinese people have distorted it and developed it into pastoral feminism, using it as a tool to compete for interests. The problem of betrothal prices has become more pronounced in recent years due to the imbalance of the male-to-female ratio. Betrothal price often leads to conflicts between the families of men and women, and the negative impact of rural feminism on Chinese women has increased. Influenced by rural feminism, some Chinese women have increasingly strict requirements on betrothal gifts. The outrageous dowry happened. Some provinces are even known for their high betrothal prices. The research object of this paper is the bride price and rural feminism. This paper analyzes the influence of rural feminism on women's values in terms of bride price, and uses qualitative research methods to research, and draws the conclusion that rural feminism makes women attach too much importance to the quantity and form of bride price, and regard marriage as the result of a transaction. The author hopes to deepen readers' understanding of rural women's rights and the bride price through this paper.

Access to innovative drugs and the National Reimbursement Drug List in China: Changing dynamics and future trends in pricing and reimbursement

ABSTRACT Background and objectives: Multiple reforms aimed at improving the Chinese population’s health have been introduced in recent years, including several designed to improve access to innovative drugs. We sought to review current factors affecting access to innovative drugs in China and to anticipate future trends. Methods: Targeted reviews of published literature and statistics on the Chinese healthcare system, medical insurance and reimbursement processes were conducted, as well as interviews with five Chinese experts involved in the reimbursement of innovative drugs. Results: Drug reimbursement in China is becoming increasingly centralized due to the removal of provincial pathways, the establishment of the National Healthcare Security Administration and the implementation of the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), which is now the main route for drug reimbursement in China. There is also an increasing number of other channels via which patients may access innovative treatments, including various types of commercial insurance and special access. Health technology assessment (HTA) and health economic evidence are becoming pivotal elements of the NRDL decision-making process. Alongside the optimization of HTA decision making, innovative risk-sharing agreements are anticipated to be increasingly leveraged in the future to optimize access to highly specialized technologies and encourage innovation while safeguarding limited healthcare funds. Conclusions: Drug public reimbursement in China continues to align more closely with approaches widely used in Europe in terms of HTA, health economics and pricing. Centralization of decision-making processes for public reimbursement of innovative drugs allows consistency in assessment and access, which optimizes the improvement of the Chinese population’s health.

FINANCIAL RISKS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY: CURRENT SITUATION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The study of the current state of the renewable energy sources (RES) sector as an important area for reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere makes it possible to identify a circle of subjects – participants in the RES electricity market. The financial risks they take largely determine the present and future of this innovative market in terms of investment, financing, lending, insurance, regulation, and incentives. The renewable energy market is of particular interest to investors, financial institutions, the state setting the rules of the game and stimulating its development. The financial risks of market participants as the probability of monetary losses and losses are manifested at all stages of the development and implementation of renewable energy projects, from the development of technologies to public procurement of generated electricity. The analysis made it possible to identify the features of financing renewable energy projects, in particular, high initial financial costs, long payback periods for projects requiring long-term lending, sensitivity to regulatory and legal changes on the part of the state in terms of purchase prices for electricity, subsidies and incentive benefits for its producers and financial institutions – participants. Based on specific examples of renewable energy projects, the risks of banks, insurers in Vietnam and a number of developing countries in South Asia that provide green loans and green insurance products to companies implementing renewable energy projects, as well as households producing electricity from solar systems, are considered. Recommendations were formulated for national financial regulators, banking institutions, insurance companies to ensure acceptable financial conditions for renewable energy projects and adequately assess their own financial risks.

A VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF AGROFORESTRY PRODUCTS IN THE SOUTH-WESTERN REGION OF BANGLADESH

This study explores the market linkages in a typical agroforestry value chain in Bangladesh, particularly the participation of the micro and subsistence level farming and household-community units in this chain. The study area is Dumuria Upazila which is a 30 square km land area in the outskirt of Khulna which is the third largest city of Bangladesh located in the south-western region of Bangladesh. Agro-products produced in the Dumuria Upazila and then sold in the areas including Dumuria Bazar and Gollamari Bazar which are peri-urban locations of Khulna city. The particular objectives of this study were to identify different value chains of agroforestry products, the relationship of various intermediaries within it, and to explore the impact of agroforestry practices on the socioeconomic condition of the local population. The assessment was performed by using multistage sampling of 80 households using a semi-structured questionnaire, and 30 intermediaries were included on convenience basis for tracing the structure of market linkage and existing problems, in the marketing of agro-products in the study area. Explored network structures of the value chain have revealed that both the marketing of agroforestry crops and timber, include the intermediaries that have contributed to different forms of value-addition to the original product and produced higher gains for the participants in the value chain. Value chain participants in the point of origin of the products, farmers and households, reported being discriminated in terms of price taking while end-market intermediaries were found to absorb major shares of the total gain originated in the value chain. The farmers were neutral in terms of satisfaction in case of purchase by the government, while the intermediaries were dissatisfied with the same. Findings of this study contributes in generating understanding the process of value creation, power structure, and gain sharing in the localized natural resources-based value chains.

Regional spillover of housing (un)affordability: an empirical study on the residential housing markets for first-time buyers in the U.K

ABSTRACT This study examines the lead–lag relationships between the levels of housing affordability of different regions of the U.K. By utilizing government data, a number of housing affordability indicators are constructed to explore whether spatial diffusion exists between different regional submarkets of first-time homebuyers over the period of 2000 – 2021. The results reveal that during periods of economic expansion, housing unaffordability tended to diffuse from regions of slower economic growth to regions of higher economic development. It is further evident that in the aftermath of the GFC, the London housing market Granger-caused other regional markets in terms of housing (un)affordability. Lastly, the U.K’.s decision to leave the EU in 2016 seems to have led to more divergence between the submarket regions, which in a Granger causal sense, have become less causally correlated in terms of pricing. We conjecture that the causal interactions between the different regional housing submarkets exist with the lead–lag relationships governed primarily by their underlying macroeconomic fundamentals.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN KOREAN BRAND AMBASSADOR, PRICE, AND PRODUCT QUALITY TO CUSTOMER PURCHASE DECISION ON LOCAL SKINCARE PRODUCT

<p>Nowadays, skincare has evolved into a social trend. People are competing to get the best suitable skincare, while local companies are competing to make skincare that is market-acceptable in terms of image, price, and quality. The usage of Korean brand ambassadors has been a topic in the local skincare industry with some of the recognized brands competing to partner with them. This paper aims to determine if the effort provides a positive relationship with customers’ purchase decision compared to other factors, which are the price and product quality. Using a Likert scale questionnaire distributed to Korean wave fans from high school and college students with a random sampling method, the data is constructed using the regression model. The questionnaire collected 52 participants who have used at least one of the local skincare products that use Korean brand ambassadors. It is found that the brand ambassador and price variable is not significant for the model tested, while product quality positively affects the customers’ purchase decision. The model shows that there is a market segmentation that does not consider the Korean brand ambassador even though they are fans of the Korean wave. Moreover, the market segmentation is also willing to spend more for the product that offers better quality. Therefore, the model suggests that local skincare brands focus more on improving the quality of their product.</p>

Cost Analysis of Using Cover Crops in Citrus Production

Florida has a long association with citrus (Citrus sp.) production. However, the citrus industry in Florida has been devastated by Huanglongbing (HLB) or citrus greening disease (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus). HLB affects the citrus tree phloem and eventually causes tree death. Cover crops, or noncash crops, have traditionally been used in row crop production to improve soil organic matter, for nitrogen fixing, and for weed control. Citrus growers may benefit from adopting cover crops because healthier soils could improve yields and fruit quality of citrus trees. However, growers are uncertain about the costs and benefits associated with cover crop investments. The objective of our study was to analyze whether cover crops represent an economically feasible option for Florida citrus growers. We calculated the break-even prices for ‘Valencia’ and non-‘Valencia’ oranges (Citrus sinensis) in terms of price per box (equivalent to 90 lb of oranges in Florida) and price per pound solids per box (amount of soluble solids per box of oranges) by considering additional costs and short-term savings from using cover crops across various yield and quality scenarios based on the past 10 years of data. Considering the short-term savings from adopting cover crops, the per-acre cost of production increased by $107.3/acre or by 5.73% and constituted 5.42% of the total production cost during the first year of adoption. After the 2018–19 peak, the yield and quality for both ‘Valencia’ and non-‘Valencia’ oranges have decreased steadily. Adopting cover crops in the current yield–quality scenario will not be profitable for either ‘Valencia’ or non-‘Valencia’ oranges. However, for ‘Valencia’ oranges, at the median yield and quality levels of 193.5 boxes/acre and 6.08 lb solids/box, respectively, cover crop adoption would be profitable because the break-even price of $2.25/lb solids would be comparable to the market prices of the past 5 years.

Differentially Private Demand Side Management for Incentivized Dynamic Pricing in Smart Grid

In order to efficiently provide demand side management (DSM) in smart grid, carrying out pricing on the basis of real-time energy usage is considered to be the most vital tool because it is directly linked with the finances associated with smart meters. Hence, every smart meter user wants to pay minimum possible amount along with getting maximum benefits. In here, usage based dynamic DSM pricing strategies plays their role and provide users with specific incentives. However, these reported real-time values can leak privacy of smart meter users, which can cause serious consequences such as spying. Moreover, most of dynamic pricing algorithms charge all users equally irrespective of their contribution in causing peak factor. Therefore, this paper proposes a modified usage based dynamic pricing mechanism that only charges the users responsible for causing peak factor. We further integrate differential privacy to protect the privacy of real-time smart metering data, and to calculate accurate billing we propose a noise adjustment method. Finally, we propose Demand Response enhancing Differential Pricing (DRDP) strategy that effectively enhances demand response along with providing dynamic pricing to smart meter users. The performance evaluation shows that DRDP outperforms previous mechanisms in terms of dynamic pricing and privacy preservation.

A novel adjusted learning algorithm for online portfolio selection using peak price tracking approach

Online Portfolio Selection (OLPS) has attracted extensive interest in recent years. Accurate prediction of future prices and determining the optimal portfolio selection strategy based on the estimated return is a challenging topic in machine learning. We propose a novel adjusted learning algorithm based on peak price tracking for OLPS to tackle this challenge. The algorithm is based on an aggressive strategy with residual information and transaction costs. We first propose an adjusted online portfolio selection algorithm using Peak Price Tracking Approach (PPTA) to improve the accuracy of return prediction by introducing λ to adjust the impact of peak price and residual term on the predicted price. We then build the Net Profit Maximization (NPM) model with transaction costs. Finally, we integrate the PPTA and the NPM algorithms into a new algorithm called the PPTA-NPM to maximize the cumulative return. Extensive benchmark data experiment results and statistical analysis show that the PPTA algorithm significantly improves the accuracy in predicting the future price, and the integrated PPTA-NPM algorithm is superior to multiple classic OLPS algorithms.