Multiproduct manufacturer-retailer coordinated supply chain with adjustable rate for common parts, delayed differentiation, and multi-shipment

Operating in today’s turbulent and competitive world marketplaces, manufacturers must find the best production scheme and delivery policy to meet timely client’s multiproduct requirements and minimize the total manufacturing-shipment expenses. This study proposes a two-stage delayed differentiation model for a multiproduct manufacturer-retailer coordinated supply chain featuring the adjustable-rate for making common parts and a multi-shipment policy for transporting finished goods. The aim is to help present-day manufacturers achieve their operational goals mentioned above. The mathematical techniques help us build a specific model to explicitly represent the problem and derive its overall operating expense. Then, the convexity of the total expense is verified by Hessian matrix equations. The differential calculus helps derive the cost-minimized fabrication-shipment decision. This study offers an example to demonstrate the applicability and capabilities of our proposed model numerically. The following crucial information has been made available to the managers to facilitate their operating decision makings: (1) the problem’s best fabrication-shipment policy; (2) the collective influence of various common part’s completion rates and values on the problem’s total expenses and optimal fabrication-shipment policy; (3) the impact of various adjustable-rates in stage one on utilization and stage one’s uptime; (4) the details of cost contributors to the problem; and (5) the collective impacts of critical features on the problem’s performance.

Mortgage debt and time-varying monetary policy transmission

This paper studies the role of monetary policy for the dynamics of US mortgage debt, which accounts for the largest part of household debt. A time-varying parameter vector autoregressive (VAR) model allows us to study the variation in the sensitivity of mortgage debt to monetary policy. We find that an identically sized policy shock became less effective over time. We use a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to show that a fall in the share of adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) can replicate this finding. Calibrating the model to the drop in the ARM share since the 1980s yields a decline in the sensitivity of housing debt to monetary policy which is quantitatively similar to the VAR results. A sacrifice ratio for mortgage debt reveals that a policy tightening directed toward reducing household debt became more expensive in terms of a loss in employment. Counterfactuals show that this result cannot be attributed to changes in monetary policy itself.

Multi-Item Production Lot Sizing with Postponement, External Source for Common Parts, and Adjustable Rate for End Products

This study considers a multi-item production lot-size problem incorporating postponement, an external source for common parts, and an adjustable-rate for end products. Dealing with product variety, timely requirements, and limited in-house capacity has led production managers to seek manufacturing schemes and utilization-reduction strategies that can help them meet customer needs, smoothen fabrication schedules, and lower overall manufacturing expenses. We propose a two-stage manufacturing scheme. The first stage produces common parts for multiproduct incorporating a partial supply from an outside contractor to reduce utilization/uptime. Stage two fabricates all end products using an adjustable-rate to reduce the uptime further. We build a model to characterize the problem’s features and use optimization methods to derive the optimal rotation cycle time in order to help managers make cost-effective lot-size decisions and allow manufacturers to gain competitive advantages. A numerical illustration validates the model’s capability and applicability. This study makes two important contributions: (1) It offers a decision-support model for studying such a particular batch-size problem and deciding the optimal rotation cycle time, and (2) it identifies the individual/collective influence of dual uptime-reduction strategies on the operating policy and various performance indexes to help facilitate managerial decision-making.

Selection, Leverage, and Default in the Mortgage Market

We ask whether the correlation between mortgage leverage and default is due to moral hazard (the causal effect of leverage) or adverse selection (ex ante risky borrowers choosing larger loans). We separate these information asymmetries using a natural experiment resulting from the contract structure of option adjustable-rate mortgages and unexpected 2008 divergence of indexes that determine rate adjustments. Our point estimates suggest that moral hazard is responsible for 40% of the correlation in our sample, while adverse selection explains 60%. We calibrate a simple model to show that leverage regulation must weigh default prevention against distortions due to adverse selection.

Household Debt and Monetary Policy: Revealing the Cash-Flow Channel*

We examine the effect of monetary policy on household spending when households are indebted and interest rates on outstanding loans are linked to short-term interest rates. Using administrative data on balance sheets and consumption expenditure of Swedish households, we reveal the cash-flow transmission channel of monetary policy. On average, indebted households reduce consumption spending by an additional 0.23–0.55 percentage points in response to a one-percentage-point increase in the policy rate, relative to a household with no debt. We show that these responses are driven by households that have some or a large share of their debt in contracts where interest rates vary with short-term interest rates, such as adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), which implies that monetary policy shocks are quickly passed through to interest expenses.

Cause Determination of the Adjustable-Rate Mortgage Market Collapse During the Financial Crisis

This paper provides insight into what caused the decline of the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) market during the 2007–2009 financial crisis. Contrary to common perception, the failure of the ARM market cannot be primarily attributed to predatory lending targeting subprime borrowers from low-credit households. This popular narrative is incomplete and disregards some important factors. I present three key factors that challenge the narrative and point to previously undiscussed sources that may have contributed to the ARM market collapse. First, the accusation of predatory lending does not account for other possible causes of mass ARM defaults. Second, the sole focus on the market’s subprime segment disregards the impact of prime ARMs on the market. Third, the narrative’s citation of subprime ARMs having greater delinquency rates and foreclosure numbers fails to recognize the significant percentage increase in prime ARM failures in the years leading up to the crisis, as well the disparity in typical outstanding balances between subprime and prime ARMs.

The Collective Influence of Component Commonality, Adjustable-Rate, Postponement, and Rework on Multi-Item Manufacturing Decision

The present study explores the collective influence of component commonality, adjustable-rate, postponement, and rework on the multi-item manufacturing decision. In contemporary markets, customer demand trends point to fast-response, high-quality, and diversified merchandise. Hence, to meet customer expectations, modern manufacturers must plan their multiproduct fabrication schedule in the most efficient and cost-saving way, especially when product commonality exists in a series of end products. To respond to the above viewpoints, we propose a two-stage multiproduct manufacturing scheme, featuring an adjustable fabrication rate in stage one for all needed common parts, and manufacturing diversified finished goods in stage two. The rework processes are used in both stages to repair the inevitable, nonconforming items and ensure the desired product quality. We derive the cost-minimized rotation cycle decision through modeling, formulation, cost analysis, and differential calculus. Using a numerical illustration, we reveal the collective and individual influence of adjustable-rate, rework, and postponement strategies on diverse critical system performances (such as uptime of the common part and/or end products, utilization, individual cost factor, and total system cost). Our decision-support model offers in-depth managerial insights for manufacturing and operations planning in a wide variety of contemporary industries, such as household merchandise, clothing, and automotive.

One Money, Many Markets

We study the transmission of monetary shocks across euro-area countries using a dynamic factor model and high-frequency identification. We develop a methodology to assess the degree of heterogeneity, which we find to be low in financial variables and output, but significant in consumption, consumer prices, and variables related to local housing and labor markets. Building a small open economy model featuring a housing sector and calibrating it to Spain, we show that varying the share of adjustable-rate mortgages and loan-to-value ratios explains up to one-third of the cross-country heterogeneity in the responses of output and private consumption.

High-density micro- and nanogranular ceramics. Transition of open pores to closed ones. Part 1. Preparation of powder, molding material, molding

An explanation of the processes that occur when producing high-density micro- and nanogranular ceramics without the use of external pressure is proposed on the basis of data accumulated in the literature. It is known that pore growth begins after the beginning of the transition of open pores to closed ones, which begins at about 30 % open porosity. It is necessary to maintain open pores to the maximum possible total density of sintered ceramics. This can be achieved by slowing down the formation of areas of local compaction (unequal density of samples) by various methods. Preservation of open pores is facilitated by such a decrease in the rate of shrinkage at which a self-consistent compaction of the local seals and the less dense zones surrounding them is realized. Such a regime can be implemented in different ways: by reducing the activity of powder particles (preliminary heat treatment of the powder, preliminary low-temperature sintering ― presintering), the use of additives that slow down shrinkage (obtaining transparent ceramics without external pressure), at the stages of preparing the molding material, molding blanks, removing the binder by adjusting the heating rate of the sample (sintering with an adjustable rate of shrinkage), prolonged sintering at a relatively low temperature in 2-stage sintering. This is part 1 of a series of 3 articles. Ref. 61.