Productivity growth in electric energy retail in Colombia. A bootstrapped malmquist indices approach

This paper offers a productivity growth estimate for electric energy commercialization firms in Colombia, using a non-parametric Malmquist bootstrap methodology. The estimation and methodology serve two main purposes. First, in Colombia Commercialization firms are subject to a price-cap regulation scheme, a non-common arrangement in the international experience for this part of the industry. Therefore the paper’s result suggest an estimate of the productivity factor to be used by the regulator, not only in Colombia but in other countries where commercialization is a growing part of the industry (renewable energy, for instance). Second, because of poor data collection from regulators and firms themselves, regulation based on a single estimation of productivity seems inappropriate and error-prone. The nonparametric Malmquist bootstrap estimation allows an assessment of the result in contrast to a single one estimation. This would open an opportunity for the regulator to adopt a narrower and more accurate productivity estimation or override an implausible result and impose a productivity factor in the price-cap to foster the development of the industry.

Propuesta de mejoramiento de la política de inventarios de la empresa Wholesale and Retail Place LLC

Wholesale and Retail place LLC, es una empresa que nace en el año 2012 en la ciudad de Carteret, Nueva Jersey dedicada a la comercialización y distribución de ropa para mujer colombiana en Estados Unidos. De esta manera, la problemática abordada en este proyecto será la influencia de la política de inventarios en el desempeño de la empresa. A partir de esto, se plantea realizar un mejoramiento de la política de gestión de inventarios, recurso que procure cambiar el modelo operativo de negocio mediante un enfoque a la transición, desde una pequeña hasta una mediana empresa, con énfasis en la perdurabilidad y sostenibilidad de la compañía.

SPARTIAN: Propuesta de mejoramiento de la gestión comercial de la empresa Wholesale and Retail Place LLC

El propósito básico de este proyecto es optimizar el proceso de ventas de la empresa internacional Wholesale and Retail Place LLC a través de una solución tecnológica. Para esto, se busca diagnosticar los procesos de gestión comercial de la empresa a través de indicadores que permitan medir su situación actual, con el propósito de implementar una aplicación móvil que se articule con la fuerza comercial que apoya el proceso de ventas, y se genere un impacto positivo en los indicadores formulados después de la aplicación de la herramienta móvil.

The potential for high performance design adoption in retail property portfolios

Growing legislative pressures and increasing stakeholder awareness of environmental issues are pushing the property market to consider high-performance, low-impact retail buildings. The office sector is relatively advanced in its apparent appreciation of such buildings; however, the retail sector is slow to recognize these benefits. In exploring the business case for high-performance design adoption in the retail sector, this paper examines the overlaps between office and retail sector benefits and considers the potential benefits peculiar to retailers. Barriers to high-performance design adoption are then addressed through case research, interviews with key representatives from the retail property market and a questionnaire survey of FTSE listed retail company property departments. The paper concludes that information gaps are a significant hindrance to high-performance property development and that they can be reduced, to some extent, by the forthcoming introduction of the BREEAM Retail environmental assessment tool. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Effect of intensive vs. free range production on the fat and fatty acid composition of whole birds and edible portions of retail chickens in the UK

The primary objective was to compare the fat and fatty acid contents of cooked retail chickens from intensive and free range systems. Total fat comprised approximately 14, 2.5, 8, 9 and 15 g/100 g cooked weight in whole birds, skinless breast, breast with skin, skinless leg and leg meat with skin, respectively, with no effect of intensive compared with free range systems. Free range breast and leg meat contained significantly less polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6 and n-3) than did those from intensive rearing and had a consistently higher n-6/n-3 ratio (6.0 vs. 7.9). Generally, the concentrations of long chain n-3 fatty acids were considerably lower than those reported in earlier research studies. Overall, there was no evidence that meat from free range chickens had a fatty acid profile that would be classified as healthier than that from intensively reared birds and indeed, in some aspects, the opposite was the case. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The 'Shatton and Windup' Affair: Beckett's dealings with the firm of Chatto & Windus, 'Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation'

This essay looks in detail at the brief history of Samuel Beckett's relations with Charles Prentice and the publishing firm of Chatto & Windus. It examines the fate of two of Beckett's early publications - his essay on Proust in the Dolphin Books and his volume of short stories More Pricks than Kicks - against the backdrop of the cultural, ideological and economic context of publishing in the 1930s.

Spatial concentration in institutional investment in the UK: some comparisons between the retail and office sectors

Geographic diversity is a fundamental tenet in portfolio management. Yet there is evidence from the US that institutional investors prefer to concentrate their real estate investments in favoured and specific areas as primary locations for the properties that occupy their portfolios. The little work done in the UK draws similar conclusions, but has so far focused only on the office sector; no work has examined this issue for the retail sector. This paper therefore examines the extent of real estate investment concentration in institutional Retail portfolios in the UK at two points in time; 1998 and 2003, and presents some comparisons with equivalent concentrations in the office sector. The findings indicate that retail investment correlates more closely with the UK urban hierarchy than that for offices when measured against employment, and is focused on urban areas with high populations and large population densities which have larger numbers of retail units in which to invest.

Tenant mix variety in regional shopping centres: some UK empirical analyses

The variety and quality of the tenant mix within a shopping centre is a key concern in shopping centre management. Tenant mix determines the extent of externalities between outlets in the centre, helps establish the image of the centre and, as a result, determines the attractiveness of the centre for consumers. This then translates into sales and rents. However, the management of tenant mix has largely been based on perceived “optimum” arrangements and industry rules of thumb. This paper attempts to model the impact of tenant mix on the rent paid by retailers in larger UK shopping centres and, hence, the returns made by shopping centre landlords. It extends work on shopping centre rent determination (see Working Paper 10/03) utilising a database of 148 regional shopping centres in the UK, with detailed data for over 1900 tenants. Econometric models test the relationship between rental levels and the levels of retail concentration and diversity, while controlling for a range of continuous and qualitative characteristics of each tenant, each retail product, and each shopping centre. Factor analysis is then used to extract the core retail and service categories from the tenant lists of the 148 shopping centres. The factor scores from these core retailer factors are then tested against rent payable. The results from the empirical analysis allow us to generate some clear analytical and empirical implications for optimal retail management.