A Remark on the Economics of Quantifier Raising

Quantifier Raising is often considered to be a relatively local operation, though it has been argued that nonlocal applications are licensed by generating new scope interpretations ( Fox 2000 , Reinhart 2006 ) or resolving antecedent-contained deletions ( Fox 2002 , Wilder 2003 , Cecchetto 2004 ). In this article, an account of the restricted distribution of sloppy pronouns in antecedent-contained deletions leads to the conclusion that exceptional applications of Quantifier Raising are in fact not licensed purely by virtue of QR’s escaping the antecedent for ellipsis.

Improvement of freight transportation technologiy in the multimodal railway-water transport

Analysis of arrangement of the local operation during freight transportation by the multimodal railway-water transport to Tobolsk river port of the Ob-Irtysh bassin is presented. Dynamics of growth of construction cargo loading and increase of the volumes of their transportation to the port enhance the working capacity of Sverdlovsk railroad, which increases the loading level of its processing and carrying capacities. It should be noted that the level of quality and reliability of such transportation is reduced in the period of the transport infrastructure repair, when the number of the freight trains temporarily removed from operation is grown at the approaches to the port railway station. The search for the possible solutions of arranging the local operation was conducted at the route limited in the carrying and processing capabilities, in particular at the interaction of two types of transport: railway and inland water transport. Effective solutions for automation of the processes of adaptive approval of the volume of transported cargo are proposed, as well as the methods and options of their transportation at all stages of transportation services, forecasting and planning of the regional freight transportation as a part of the inter-industry transportation. The “Electronic service of the complex transportation services” system is presented, which provides for selection of the best option of effect on the main quality criteria of the regional freight transportation and ensures self-arrangement and self-support of the process when its conditions are changed under the impact of external and internal factors. The system calculates the economically feasible mode of transportation, performs adaptive approval of the volumes of transported cargo at all stages of the technological cycle of rendering complex transportation services. The system provides for information and analytical support of the functions of planning, arrangement of local operation, and collection, analysis, and processing of statistical data. Methods of the system construction are used for control of the transportation services when arranging the car traffic volume of inert cargo making the forecast of their delivery. The “Electronic service of the complex transportation services” system has passed the state registration.

Commitment to a parent company and a local operation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nature of commitments of local employees to a parent company and a local operation in comparison to the nature of commitment of Western expatriates to the two foci. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by questionnaire from 532 local employees and 471 Western expatriates currently working for the subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNCs) in Vietnam. Hypotheses were tested using exploratory factor analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, correlation analyses, t-test, generalized linear models and hierarchical regression. Findings – The results confirmed two distinct commitment foci and revealed that the commitment to the local operation was stronger than the commitment to the parent company for local employees. Remarkably, retention and absenteeism are more driven by local operation commitment than by parent company commitment for the local employees. In contrast, these outcomes are more driven by parent company commitment for the Western expatriates. Working conditions (job autonomy, job variety, transformational leadership and remuneration) positively predicted affective commitment to the local operation for both groups; particularly job variety and leadership were better predictors for local employees than for Western expatriates. Practical implications – The comparison shows effective and specific ways to sustain and reinforce the commitments of each employee group with regard to two foci. This information may help to reduce the rate of turnover intention and absenteeism in MNCs. Originality/value – By using a multifaceted approach, this study provided a comparison of dual organizational commitment for different categories of employees working in MNCs. Second, this study shows that the stronger commitment focus has a stronger influence on related outcomes (i.e. retention and absenteeism). If so, MNCs can focus on reinforcing the selected commitment focus in order to reduce the costs of management. Third, the study has initially pointed out that some work factors exert a specific influence on different commitment foci in the two groups. Controlling these work conditions is recommended to sustain and develop commitment levels of the two groups.

A Hierarchical Control Strategy of Multi-Microgrids

This paper gives a hierarchical control strategy of multi-microgrids. The hierarchical control structure is made up with microgrid center controller (MGCC), microgrid controller (MC), generator controller (GC), load controller (LC). Controllers recognize the current operation mode of microgrids according to state trigger event and local operation state, realize transition of operation state. Controller is controlled by the upper controller, but once the communication among controllers is interrupted, MC can operate normally according to its local operation state. Thus, the MCs have a certain independence. The simulation platform is built-up by Netlogo for simulation of controller logic and communication coordination mechanism, OpenDSS for modeling distribution network and multi-microgrids, and matlab for data transmission and control optimization. With the simulation platform, this paper analyzed the characteristics of power regulation and different state transitions of multi-microgrids. Through verification, the strategy is available to realize operation state transition of multi-microgrids, guarantee stability of multi-microgrids under every operation state. Besides, compared with centralized control, it has better control effect and it has faster response.

Work conditions as moderators of the relationship between western expatriates’ commitment and retention in international assignments

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to first, examine the role of multi-dimensional commitments of western expatriates to a local operation in sustaining retention in international assignments. Second, the study also attempts to investigate the work conditions in which dimensions of local operation commitment are more effective in predicting retention. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by questionnaire from 471 western expatriates currently working for the subsidiaries of multinational companies in Vietnam, and from this, five hypotheses were formulated and tested using hierarchical regression, moderated regression analyses and plots of two-way interaction effects. Findings – The results indicated that all three components of local operation commitment (affective, normative, and continuance commitment) positively predicted retention. The findings also revealed that job autonomy, leader support, and remuneration were found as moderators, which increase the effects of the three components of local operation commitment on retention. Practical implications – By understanding and managing the multi-dimensional nature of expatriate commitment to a local operation as well as their working conditions (job autonomy, leader support, and remuneration), multinational companies can reduce the rate of premature return for western expatriates. It is the interaction between local operation commitment and these factors that most positively influences retention. Originality/value – The first contribution of this research is the identification of the important role of multi-dimensional commitments to a local operation in predicting retention. Second, the moderating effects of work conditions found in this study partially explain why the relationship between local operation commitment and retention is reported unstable in previous studies. Therefore, controlling work conditions is recommended to enhance the local commitment-retention relationship.