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This chapter discusses the ongoing transformations of the French defence support. Considering the importance of economic activities related to defence support, this contribution aims at discussing the evolution of defence support and its costs for the State. The literature in defence economics presents very little analysis of defence support in its different forms. Neither space nor base locations have been deeply analysed in such a literature. We try to bridge this gap in an original research framework. We focus on the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of defence platforms. More particularly, we focus on the array of measures that surround French defence support in MRO since the end of the 1990s. Considering both economic and spatial leverages, how can the organisation of MRO be optimised? With concepts from spatial economics, we propose a new look on the defence support system. We examine new economic interconnections (e.g. Public Private Partnerships and outsourcing) between military and civilian activities. More broadly speaking, this path of research could help us to better understand the new type of economic interrelations between defence organisation and ‘territory’ as a social fabric.

Business Aviation (BA) is an important segment of nonscheduled air transport, providing personalized solutions for business trips by air. Unlike scheduled air transport or holiday charters, BA has hardly been dealt with in the academic literature. This chapter gives insight into the structure and key economic effects of the European (EU28 + EFTA) BA sector. Hereby, we differentiate between the sector’s macroeconomic footprint, in terms of jobs or gross value added (GVA), and the generation of business efficiencies and connectivity benefits for the users. Based on our own data collection and input-output analyses using data from the World Input-Output Database and Eurostat, we find that the effect of BA over the EU28 GVA is almost 0.2%. Also, some 374,000 European jobs are directly or indirectly dependent on the sector’s activities, which is more than the total number of jobs in, e.g., Cyprus. More than half of these jobs stem from the operation of business aircraft and from closely related operational services like maintenance (“MRO”) and handling (“FBO”), while the remaining employment occurs in the production of business aircraft and parts. Comparing actual European BA flights against their fastest commercial travel alternatives, key efficiencies came to light, such as average travel time savings of 127 minutes per flight, annual savings of about € 15 million in overnight hotel costs and an average 150% increase in productive work time for the travelers. Furthermore, we find that BA can significantly improve connectivity, as it serves about 25,000 city pairs not connected by nonstop scheduled air services.

The aim of this chapter is to investigate factors affecting four of the gaps encompassed in the GAP model, which then results in Gap 5, the so-called customer gap, related to the variance between customer expectations and the perception of service quality (SQ). Four predictors were selected based on the literature review – marketing research orientation (MRO), service specification design (SSD), integrated technology (ITC) and integrated communication (ICO) – to examine their relationship with the customer gap. A valid and reliable questionnaire, developed for the purpose of the study, was used to collect data from a sample consisting of 600 employees from six hotels located in Amman, Jordan. The findings show that MRO, SSD, ITC and ICO significantly predict the four gaps in SQ on the provider side, which in turn significantly predict the customer gap. For companies, more attention should be paid to the four gaps that induce the customer gap.

This chapter examines the influence of outsourcing on airlines’ performance from countries of the Asia Pacific region. Performance in the context of this study is drawn from productivity growth and technical efficiency scores that are calculated using the standard data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. We utilize data from airlines over the period 2003–2011 and estimate the impact of outsourcing on productivity and technical efficiency using generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators. The findings from DEA reveal an improvement in the technical efficiency score of airlines from Asia Pacific. Nonetheless, productivity estimates indicate fluctuations in the productivity growth trend of airlines, attributable to global economic recession in 2007/2008. GMM estimation results, however, suggest negative impacts of outsourcing on technical efficiency and productivity of the airlines from Asia Pacific countries. We offer several explanations for these outsourcing findings. Heavy outsourcing of airlines activities particularly maintenance of aircraft may negatively affect aircraft utilization and ultimately erode the service level of airlines. The erosion of the service level of airlines would affect the demand for air travel in a downward manner, thereby lowering the technical efficiency and productivity of airlines. Also, relatively low labor costs enjoyed by airlines in the Asia Pacific region would suggest that having many airline activities in-house would save operating expenses attributable to labor costs.

This chapter analyses the operational framework for monetary policy implementation in some central European countries that have recently joined the European Union (EU).¹ For the sake of simplicity, they will be referred to as “non-euro area countries” in the rest of the chapter (although such a classification also includes Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom) which are not analysed here. The analysis is based on public information collected for 2001; since then, the operational framework of these central banks has not changed substantially. Most of the recent changes in the operational framework have taken place in the Eurosystem (or euro area, as it is also commonly known). For this reason, more recent euro area data is reported for 2003 and 2004, and a detailed analysis is made wherever appropriate. The study therefore presents an uptodate comparison of operational frameworks across the countries. The remainder of the chapter is organised as follows. Section 2 examines the characteristics of the minimum reserve system in the euro area. Section 3 examines open market operations, Section 4 examines the standing facilities and Section 5 looks at counterparties. Finally, chapter 6 describes at eligible collateral.

As trade policy disruption has become more commonplace, so have the calls for blockchain as a solution. But often the reasoning for this link has been unclear. Using the case study of Brexit as a baseline, the authors map four sources of trade-based uncertainty and explore the extent to which blockchain applications could – when implemented – attenuate supply chain disruption, which has lead to firms taking second best options like reducing investment and switching suppliers. Because the law has not kept pace with technology, the discussion also highlights prominent legal questions raised by blockchain in each instance.

This paper aims to help auditors manage the risk of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) violations of the companies that they audit, particularly those with operations in Latin America.

First, the paper describes the relevant provisions of the FCPA. Second, it identifies the common schemes and transactions associated with heightened risk of FCPA liability in Latin America and provides recommendations to minimize this risk. Third, it discusses the responsibilities of auditors under U.S. securities laws and regulations with respect to the FCPA violations of their clients. Finally, it describes the sanctions that auditors could face if they fail to fulfill their responsibilities regarding these FCPA violations. The paper is based on data collected from various documents including laws, cases, accounting and auditing standards, litigation releases, press releases, deferred prosecution agreements, and enforcement actions.

Auditors have a responsibility under Section 10A(a) of the Exchange Act to design procedures that provide reasonable assurances of detecting the FCPA violations of their clients, which are illegal acts with direct and material effects on the financial statements. In addition, auditors have a responsibility under Section 10A(b) of the Exchange Act to report the violations of the FCPA that they detect during the audit to the appropriate level of management. If management does not take the necessary remedial steps, auditors must report FCPA violations to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In order to reduce their FCPA-related liability and fulfill their responsibilities under U.S. securities laws and accounting standards, auditors should closely scrutinize transactions with a high risk of FCPA liability. An analysis of FCPA cases occurring in Latin America reveals six categories of transactions with heightened FCPA risk.

While there is much literature regarding a company’s compliance with the FCPA, there has not been much literature about the auditor’s responsibilities with respect to the FCPA violations of their clients. This paper attempts to start bridging this gap by providing guidance to auditors regarding their responsibilities to detect and report FCPA violations.

This paper develops a Bayesian real options model to determine the optimal amount of sampling information to acquire before project activation. The approach is then applied to evaluate parts manufacturing approval (PMA) licenses for an aerospace firm in the maintenance, repair, and overhaul industry. The model explicitly accounts for project and sampling uncertainty, estimated cash inflows, capital outlays, and sampling costs. Upper and lower thresholds for delay option inputs are identified for immediate project activation and indefinite delay scenarios. In general, it is shown that high sampling costs encourage and low sampling costs postpone project activation, the magnitude of which dependent upon sampling reliability, project uncertainty, and moneyness of the delay option.