To buy or to borrow? Evaluating the cost of an eBook in TalTech library

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-93
Author(s):  
Kate-Riin Kont
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Activity Based Costing ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Platform ◽  
Cost Behaviour ◽  
Usage Cost ◽  
The Cost

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find out how much the purchasing and lending of individual electronic books really cost. Additionally, this paper investigates which kind of approach would be cheaper and less time-consuming for library staff as well as library patrons – purchase or short-term loan. Design/methodology/approach This study was conducted at the Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) Library. This is the only university library in Estonia where the Ebook Central platform is adapted on a large scale. For background information, all statistical data of expenditures and average prices of purchases and short-term loans during April 2013 and December 2018 were calculated and analysed. Through a case study, the time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) method was used – all activities related to acquisition and lending of eBooks were identified, recorded in detail and analysed. More specifically, the study concerned eBooks offered in the Ebook Central platform and covered purchasing and short-term loan processes, such as receipt of order request, communication with the patron (if necessary) making a purchase or short-term loan, and feedback to the patron. Findings While analysing the results, it appeared there are many additional activities libraries can avoid during the eBook short-term loan process compared to purchasing. As a normality in TalTech library, purchase is always followed by a cataloguing process which increases the time and cost of this process in turn. On the basis of the current study, it can be said that short-term loan is a cheaper way to use eBooks; many activities related to the short-term loan of eBooks take remarkably less staff time and financial resources than eBooks acquisition/purchasing activities. When analysing the literature reviewed as well as collected statistical data, the problem may arise when the decision-maker librarian is not experienced, professional or long-sighted enough to understand the future behaviour of the patron or the usage of the specific eBook. When the usage reaches a certain point, it becomes an indicator of continuing future usage and so it makes sense to purchase the eBook, as the library pays no further charges once an eBook is owned. Originality/value Most studies reviewed by the author are based on the statistical data collected about expenditure, costs, usage, cost-per-use, etc. of short-term loans and purchases. While acquisitions costs, average cost per acquired item per year and cost per usage are easy to identify, it has been difficult to measure associated costs of acquisition, cataloging and circulation. The TDABC methodology seems to be one of the best tools for understanding cost behaviour and refining a cost system for university libraries. Based on the information known to the author, there is no study carried out using the TDABC methodology for analysing costs of eBook programmes.

Tensions to rise on Haiti-Dominican Republic border

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Black Market ◽  
Border Security ◽  
Irrigation Canal ◽  
Undocumented Migration ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Term Labour

Significance One is the Dominican Republic’s controversial plan to build a border ‘wall’, to halt undocumented migration. Another is the Haitian authorities’ recent construction of an irrigation canal just within the Haitian side of the border. Protests and border clashes are likely to intensify over the coming months. Impacts Increased border security will drive up demand for, and the cost of, cross-border smuggling, worsening insecurity. Effective border policing may foster short-term labour shortages in the Dominican Republic. Demands for vaccination evidence before crossing the border will probably prompt a surge in black-market vaccination certificates.

The 2008–2009 global financial crisis and the cost of debt capital among SMEs: Swedish evidence

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darush Yazdanfar ◽  
Peter Öhman
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Dynamic Panel Data ◽  
Cost Of Debt ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Debt Capital ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Cost

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to describe and analyse the relationship between the 2008–2009 global financial crisis and small and medium-sized enterprises' cost of debt capital.Design/methodology/approachStatistical methods, including multiple OLS and dynamic panel data, were used to analyse a longitudinal cross-sectional panel dataset of 3865 Swedish SMEs operating in five industry sectors over the 2008–2015 period.FindingsThe results suggest that the cost of debt was influenced by the financial crisis and another macroeconomic factor, i.e. the interbank interest rate, and by firm-specific factors such as firm size and lagged cost of debt.Originality/valueTo the authors' best knowledge, this is one of few studies to examine the cost of debt among SMEs during the crisis and post-crisis periods using data from a large-scale, longitudinal, cross-sectional database.

US corporate tax reform would risk highway fund

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
Fuel Efficiency ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Corporate Tax Reform ◽  
The Cost

Significance On July 15, the House of Representatives passed a short-term funding measure, against the wishes of many in the Senate. US infrastructure is facing a fiscal crunch. Taxes on gasoline have traditionally supported highway appropriations. However, eroding purchasing power and greater fuel efficiency means that about 30% of highway funding must be found from other sources, difficult in the current Congress. The present round of appropriations expires on July 31. Impacts A corporate tax might provide a long-term resolution, but the pursuit of it would come at the cost of seeking more modest solutions. These would provide stability for a year or two, necessary for projects of long duration. If corporate tax reform is not completed before the end of 2015, it will probably not get done in a presidential election year. If Congress were to rely on the prospect of these taxes for the HTF, it might find itself in a similar position in a few months.

Global steel market will still face oversupply

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Steel Output ◽  
Steel Consumption ◽  
Steel Market ◽  
The Cost

Subject Slow cuts to global steel overcapacity. Significance In 2015, global steel output fell 2.8% compared to 2014, reaching 1.62 billion tonnes. China's production dropped by 2.3% to 804 million tonnes. In 2015, European benchmark steel prices fell by 27%, from 480 dollars/tonne to 350 dollars/tonne, while Chinese prices suffered a 41% drop, from 440 to 260 dollars/tonne. Margins at many steel-making groups contracted, as steel prices fell faster than the cost of raw materials. Large-scale job losses intensified in Europe, with the United Kingdom and Spain enduring the most of the capacity cuts. Impacts Latin American production could suffer from Asian competition unless sector-specific safeguards are introduced. Renewed dollar appreciation could make dollar-denominated debt unsustainable for many emerging-market steel-makers. BRICS exporters will suffer tariffs imposed by the US Department of Commerce. India will remain the industry's best hope for growth, due to its urbanisation and still low per capita steel consumption.

Technical efficiency analysis of the Indian drug and pharmaceutical industry

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 734-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Varun Mahajan ◽  
D.K. Nauriyal ◽  
S.P. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Efficient Frontier ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Managerial Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pharmaceutical Firms ◽  
Target Values ◽  
Usage Cost ◽  
Input Variables ◽  
The Cost

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure technical efficiencies, slacks and input/output targets for 50 large Indian pharmaceutical firms. Design/methodology/approach – The data are collected from Prowess of Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy for the financial year 2010-2011. This study uses data envelopment analysis approach, taking raw material, salaries and wages, advertisement and marketing and capital usage cost as input variables and net sales revenue as output variable. Findings – The paper finds that out of 50 firms, nine firms were overall technical efficient while 19 firms pure technical efficient and thus defined the efficient frontier. The BCC model identified that the inefficiency is either due to inefficient managerial performance or scale utilization. Further, firms are classified as high, low and middle robust firms on the basis of peer count. The study also analysed the slacks which were found to be significant in regard of some inputs, especially advertisement and marketing. The targets setting results have shown that all the inputs have significant scope for reduction. Practical implications – The empirical results are useful in assessing the relative efficiency of the large Indian drug and pharmaceutical industry (ID&P) firms. The managers and owners can take corrective actions to reduce the cost of operations by optimizing advertising and marketing cost, capital usage cost and salary and wages so as to improve their efficiency. Originality/value – Unlike the previous studies on the efficiency of the ID&P industry, the paper have shown the significance of improvement in managerial performance and scale utilization. In addition to this, excess inputs used in the production process and also possible target values of inputs and outputs are shown in the study. The robustness and stability of efficiency scores is also checked.

scholarly journals A MULTI CRITERIA RECOMMENDATION MODEL FOR JAUNT

2019 ◽  
Vol XLII-4/W18 ◽  
pp. 879-884
Author(s):  
A. Razavi ◽  
F. Hosseinali
Keyword(s):  
Recommender Systems ◽  
Automated System ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Considerable Time ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Mixed Groups ◽  
The City

Abstract. Nowadays, people in most parts of the world always visit, travel and have fun in their cities or other cities, and they spend considerable time and money in their city or in other cities as a tourist. The existence of an intelligent and automated system that can provide the most suitable recreational and cultural offerings at any time and place, with regard to financial capability and time and transport constraints, as well as individual interests and personalization; has always been felt. Recommender systems can be used to suggest suitable recreational options for the user. The main difference between the recommendation model in this study and the previous models is to focus on the short-term planning of a few hours for one day. Previous models were often based on planning a few days a week or days of the month. Also, the cost factor has been considered in this research, which has been less considered in previous models. We used collaborative filtering based on logistic regression to predict whether a type of places is a proper proposition to a user or not. Our case study is about recommending the board game cafés in the city of Kerman, Iran and the result shows that mixed groups between 15 to 30 years old are the best target and our model can predict if board game café is a good suggestion to different users. We used correlation based recommender systems when board game cafes are a proper suggestion for a user and there are at least two options for the user. In case there is no information about the user and his previous rating, popularity based recommender system can be useful. We also used content based recommender systems to give recommendations by having some background information about previous itineraries of a user and his rating to those.

scholarly journals An applied approach to multi-criteria humanitarian supply chain planning for pandemic response

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Behnam Malmir ◽  
Christopher W. Zobel
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Simulation Based ◽  
Actual Growth Rate ◽  
Actual Growth ◽  
Deprivation Costs ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain ◽  
The Cost

PurposeWhen a large-scale outbreak such as the COVID-19 pandemic happens, organizations that are responsible for delivering relief may face a lack of both provisions and human resources. Governments are the primary source for the humanitarian supplies required during such a crisis; however, coordination with humanitarian NGOs in handling such pandemics is a vital form of public-private partnership (PPP). Aid organizations have to consider not only the total degree of demand satisfaction in such cases but also the obligation that relief goods such as medicine and foods should be distributed as equitably as possible within the affected areas (AAs).Design/methodology/approachGiven the challenges of acquiring real data associated with procuring relief items during the COVID-19 outbreak, a comprehensive simulation-based plan is used to generate 243 small, medium and large-sized problems with uncertain demand, and these problems are solved to optimality using GAMS. Finally, post-optimality analyses are conducted, and some useful managerial insights are presented.FindingsThe results imply that given a reasonable measure of deprivation costs, it can be important for managers to focus less on the logistical costs of delivering resources and more on the value associated with quickly and effectively reducing the overall suffering of the affected individuals. It is also important for managers to recognize that even though deprivation costs and transportation costs are both increasing as the time horizon increases, the actual growth rate of the deprivation costs decreases over time.Originality/valueIn this paper, a novel mathematical model is presented to minimize the total costs of delivering humanitarian aid for pandemic relief. With a focus on sustainability of operations, the model incorporates total transportation and delivery costs, the cost of utilizing the transportation fleet (transportation mode cost), and equity and deprivation costs. Taking social costs such as deprivation and equity costs into account, in addition to other important classic cost terms, enables managers to organize the best possible response when such outbreaks happen.

Nigeria forex restrictions are unsustainable

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Commercial Banks ◽  
Foreign Currency ◽  
Domestic Demand ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Special Drawing ◽  
Special Drawing Rights ◽  
The Cost

Significance Instead it ordered that all foreign exchange purchases should occur through commercial banks. This move aims to stabilise the value of the naira by reducing effective domestic demand for foreign currency. Impacts The CBN may allow commercial banks to provide forex to retail dealers as an alternative policy. The cost of imported goods and services will increase. A USD3.35bn IMF special drawing rights (SDR) allocation will bolster Nigeria’s short-term reserve position. Full exchange rate unification will not occur under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

scholarly journals Comparative performance of PPPs and traditional procurement projects in Indonesia

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gigih Udi Atmo ◽  
Colin Duffield ◽  
Lihai Zhang ◽  
David Ian Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Comparative Performance ◽  
Quality Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Cost

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the outcomes of Indonesian power projects as representative projects of Asian emerging economies that were procured via public-private partnerships (PPPs) and traditional public sector procurement. Power generation infrastructure delivery in emerging economies frequently seeks private participation via PPPs as one of the key mechanisms to attract private finance. Undertaking a comparative benchmark study of the outcomes of Indonesian power projects provides an opportunity to explore the historic evidence as to whether PPPs deliver better outcomes than traditional public procurement in emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on a study of the performance of 56 Indonesian power projects procured via either PPPs or traditional procurement. First, it focusses on project time and cost outcomes of power plant facility during construction and commissioning and then extends this comparison to consider the operating availability of power plants during their first two years of operation. Findings The results indicate that PPP projects had superior time and operating availability to those procured traditionally whereas no significant differences were identified in the cost performance between PPPs and traditionally procured projects. These findings highlight the importance of adopting policies that are supported by broader sources of international financiers and high quality power plant developers. Research limitations/implications The quality performance analyses of projects (based on equivalent available factor indices) were limited to the power plants in the Java-Bali region where the majority of projects are large scale power plants. Practical implications This study provides an empirical basis for governments of emerging economies to select the most beneficial procurement strategy for power plant projects. It highlights the importance of selecting experienced providers and to adopt policies that attract high quality international project financiers and power plant developers. This includes the need to ensure the commercial viability of projects and to seriously consider the use of cleaner power technologies. Originality/value This study is the first to compare the outcomes of power projects in Asian emerging economies delivered via PPPs against those delivered by traditional public procurement that includes consideration of the quality of the delivered product.

How to optimize the cost and time of the acquisitions process?

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate-Riin Kont
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Optimization Methods ◽  
Activity Based Costing ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cost System ◽  
Cost Behavior ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Print Format

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the history and new developments of the optimization and analysis of acquisitions costs. More specifically, the acquisition cost and time optimization methods studied concern primarily print format books. Though e-books have begun to be developed more and more, the print format books – both scientific books and textbooks – are still very important for university libraries and continue to pour into acquisition activities. Design/methodology/approach – The data used in this paper are based on a review of relevant literature to provide an overview of the different concepts of the budget allocation and cost accounting methods suitable for the optimizing cost and time of the acquisition process. Different methods are described via reviewing example studies. Findings – On the basis of the current study, it can be said that the acquisitions procedure is more labor-intensive than any other library procedure both historically and nowadays. Nonetheless, the routines of acquisitions have been fairly well fixed over the years and constantly have searched for new ways to reduce costs. The most popular methods to control the acquisitions budget have been centralized and cooperative acquisitions, using vendors for acquiring library materials, customer-based acquisitions, and price indexes. New costing methods described, like activity-based costing and time-driven activity-based costing methodologies seem both to be the best tools for understanding acquisitions cost behavior and for refining a cost system for university libraries. Originality/value – This paper raises a perspective in library acquisitions management that has not been dealt with before. Namely, it explores how the library materials selection moved from intrinsic wisdom of bookish librarians and “just in case” inventory model to “purchase by customer suggestion” model. In addition, how libraries moved from acting on the basis of guesses to examine the cost breakdown of the acquisitions-related activities in a library.

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