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The analysis of certain structures must be performed with due consideration to non‐linear behavior, such as material and geometric non‐linearities. The existing methods for treating non‐linear structural behavior generally make use of repeated linearization, such as load increment methods. This paper demonstrates that there is an alternative type of linearization that appears to have significant advantages when applied to the analysis of non‐linear structural systems. Briefly stated, this alternative linearization can be thought of as a “monomialization”. This monomial (single‐termed power function) approximation more faithfully models the power function behavior inherent in typical structural systems. Conveniently, it becomes a linear form when transformed into log space. Thus, computational tools based on linear algebra remain useful and effective. Preliminary results indicate that the monomial approximation provides a higher quality approximation to non‐linear phenomena exhibited in structural applications. Consequently, incremental and iterative methods become more effective because larger steps can be taken. The net result is an increase in reliability of the solution process and a significant reduction in computational effort. Two examples are presented to demonstrate the method.

The numerical treatment of non‐linear engineering phenomena often involves some sort of mathematical simplification. In many cases, the system under investigation is linearized about an operating point using the linear part of the Taylor’s series expansion. This allows local representation for use in incremental or iterative methods using well‐established computational tools for linear algebra. Demonstrates a different linearization technique that generally provides a higher quality fit to a certain class of functions than the standard Taylor linearization. This class of functions is general enough to represent all systems of algebraic equations. Presents a graphical demonstration of the quality of fit along with a discussion of why this alternative linearization provides a high quality fit. Also presents an engineering application of the linearization.

The Bureau of Economics in the Federal Trade Commission has a three-part role in the Agency and the strength of its functions changed over time depending on the preferences and ideology of the FTC’s leaders, developments in the field of economics, and the tenor of the times. The over-riding current role is to provide well considered, unbiased economic advice regarding antitrust and consumer protection law enforcement cases to the legal staff and the Commission. The second role, which long ago was primary, is to provide reports on investigations of various industries to the public and public officials. This role was more recently called research or “policy R&D”. A third role is to advocate for competition and markets both domestically and internationally. As a practical matter, the provision of economic advice to the FTC and to the legal staff has required that the economists wear “two hats,” helping the legal staff investigate cases and provide evidence to support law enforcement cases while also providing advice to the legal bureaus and to the Commission on which cases to pursue (thus providing “a second set of eyes” to evaluate cases). There is sometimes a tension in those functions because building a case is not the same as evaluating a case. Economists and the Bureau of Economics have provided such services to the FTC for over 100 years proving that a sub-organization can survive while playing roles that sometimes conflict. Such a life is not, however, always easy or fun.

This paper aims to suggest that individuals are either consciously or non‐consciously aware of the left‐right (forward/backward) orientation of numeric digits. The purpose of the studies is to demonstrate that the “directionality” (left‐ or right‐facing nature) of numerals, and the resultant eye movement bias that this directionality creates may affect the degree to which consumers attend to, or focus upon, the various digits in a price. The degree of attention paid to these digits will, in turn, impact consumers' price‐encoding strategies. It is argued that the use of left (right)‐facing digits may increase (decrease) the likelihood that consumers will employ a truncation (i.e. rounding down) price‐encoding strategy.

The paper contains two experiments. In Experiment 1, subjects were exposed to one of four ads containing regular and sale prices. The prices were placed at opposite ends of the Mueller‐Lyer illusion, with the prices substituting for the “extraneous stimuli” (i.e. inward‐ or outward‐facing wings) in the illusion. In Experiment 2, subjects were exposed to one of six ads containing a sale price only.

In Experiment 1, digit “directionality” was found to cause eye movement bias, which resulted in distorted physical distance perceptions. In Experiment 2, digit directionality was found to impact price‐rounding behavior.

It is suggested that perceived digit‐directionality creates eye movement bias, and that eye movement bias may impact the manner in which price digits are recalled and encoded. Eye movement bias can be inferred from the results of Experiment 1, but it is not directly measured. It is suggested that future research efforts might employ eye‐tracking measures to more directly confirm that this perceptual bias does indeed occur.

The findings have important implications for the marketing practitioner, because they demonstrate that the use of particular digit combinations can result in a price being perceived as greater or less than its actual value.

In presenting the concept of “digit‐directionality”, the paper offers an entirely new rubric in which to examine matters pertaining to numerical cognition.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

Many jurisdictions fine illegal cartels using penalty guidelines that presume an arbitrary 10% overcharge. This article surveys more than 700 published economic studies and judicial decisions that contain 2,041 quantitative estimates of overcharges of hard-core cartels. The primary findings are: (1) the median average long-run overcharge for all types of cartels over all time periods is 23.0%; (2) the mean average is at least 49%; (3) overcharges reached their zenith in 1891–1945 and have trended downward ever since; (4) 6% of the cartel episodes are zero; (5) median overcharges of international-membership cartels are 38% higher than those of domestic cartels; (6) convicted cartels are on average 19% more effective at raising prices as unpunished cartels; (7) bid-rigging conduct displays 25% lower markups than price-fixing cartels; (8) contemporary cartels targeted by class actions have higher overcharges; and (9) when cartels operate at peak effectiveness, price changes are 60–80% higher than the whole episode. Historical penalty guidelines aimed at optimally deterring cartels are likely to be too low.

The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyze and describe the novel approaches that affect vaccine development in lower-middle income countries (LMICs).

The vaccine market in LMICs currently focuses on traditional Expanded Program for Immunization vaccines instead of new ones. Unlike the successful introduction of those traditional vaccines, the introduction of new vaccines appears to be very slow, mainly due to financial issues. This paper systematically reviews a set of published papers on vaccine development and analyzes them against a specific region-setting framework.

Public–private partnership alone could not ensure long-term vaccine sustainability. Several factors that encourage domestic vaccine development were identified. The findings demonstrate that the regulatory approach of hybrid collaboration and market opportunity strategies can be a major breakthrough for domestic vaccine development in LMICs.

Further research is required to include qualitative and quantitative methods for policy analysis, as all of the discussion in this research focused on literature reviews. The authors did not discuss how strategic decisions are affected from a political perspective and this needs to be specified in future research. Think tanks, considerably and fundamentally, affect policy ideas and decisions. However, important breakthroughs continue to be made at the same time.

The development of vaccines in LMICs is expected to be a mechanism to overcome the inadequate access to vaccines in those countries, as solving this problem requires tackling issues from both the supply and demand sides.

This is a literature review that creates recommendation and approaches for domestic vaccine development in LMICs. This review aims to encourage LMICs to produce their own vaccines for sustainability of the vaccine access through vaccine development lifecycle, instead of expecting donor that provides funding and vaccines (vaccine access) in certain period of time. Donor is not always the solution for the problem, since vaccine development requires finance to function infrastructure. There are many efforts in revoking this, including World Health Organization through several reports; however, this effort still has many doubts. Therefore, the article would like to try to see this as a viable solution from the policy perspectives, with several examples to make recommendations more practical.

Regardless of their motives, acquiring firms almost always have to offer a premium to the shareholders of the acquired firm in acquisitions. That is, the value of the securities or cash paid by the acquirers is higher than the premerger market price of the acquired firm's common stock. The size of the merger premiums, as a percentage of the pre‐merger market price of the acquired firm's common stock, could vary from 20 per cent to 115 per cent. Several empirical studies examining the factors that determine the size of merger premiums have had limited success. Since the merger premium could affect the probability of success of a merger attempt and the wealth of the shareholders of both the acquiring and the acquired firms, continued efforts to improve our understanding of merger premium determination is essential. This paper investigates empirically the premiums paid in 66 mergers consummated between 1975 and 1979.