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The US fertility transition in the nineteenth century is unusual. Not only did it start from a very high fertility level and very early in the nation’s development, but it also took place long before the nation’s mortality transition, industrialization, and urbanization. This paper assembles new county-level, household-level, and individual-level data, including new complete-count IPUMS microdata databases of the 1830–1880 censuses, to evaluate different theories for the nineteenth-century American fertility transition. We construct cross-sectional models of net fertility for currently-married white couples in census years 1830–1880 and test the results with a subset of couples linked between the 1850–1860, 1860–1870, and 1870–1880 censuses. We find evidence of marital fertility control consistent with hypotheses as early as 1830. The results indicate support for several different but complementary theories of the early US fertility decline, including the land availability, conventional structuralist, ideational, child demand/quality-quantity tradeoff, and life cycle savings theories.

This study investigates how students' propensity towards indebtedness affects their savings behaviour. Additionally, the study examines the moderating role of financial literacy in the relationship between propensity towards indebtedness and savings behaviour.

Questionnaires were administered to undergraduate students from the University of Ghana Business School. A total of 370 valid responses were used in the empirical analysis. The hypothesised relationships were tested using partial least square – structural equation modelling.

The structural model results suggest that students' propensity towards indebtedness is negatively related to their savings behaviour. Further, the results demonstrate that financial literacy moderates the negative association between students' propensity towards debt and savings behaviour.

This study highlights students' propensity towards indebtedness and how it impacts their savings behaviour.

Energy-efficient retrofitting of existing buildings is an inexpensive way of reducing energy consumption and mitigating climate change impacts. The purpose of this study is to examine electricity savings and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission reduction potentials of energy-efficient retrofit measures for surveyed two large shopping malls in India.

A techno-economic model was developed to estimate the electricity savings achieved due to energy-efficient retrofit measures in shopping malls that were surveyed in 2017. Alternative scenarios were constructed based on capital cost and cost of conserved energy (CCE) value for retrofit measures: cheapest replacement, best available technology and best value for money. The life-cycle electricity and CO₂ emission savings and payback period for end-use retrofit measures were evaluated.

The estimated average electricity savings were around 39–56% for various retrofit measures across all three scenarios while the average CO₂ emission reductions were around 50–125 kt-CO₂. Retrofits to light-emitting diode lights and air conditioners with inverter technology offered more life-cycle electricity savings. Paybacks for most lighting end-use measures were estimated to be within 1.5 years while for most space conditioning end-use measures were between 1 and 4 years.

The primary survey-based comprehensive research makes an exclusive contribution by estimating life-cycle electricity savings and CO₂ emission reductions for energy-efficient retrofit measures of lighting and space cooling end-use appliances for existing shopping malls. The present research methodology can also be deployed in other types of commercial buildings and in residential buildings to estimate electricity savings from energy-efficient retrofit measures.

This study proposes targeted modernization of the Department of Defense (DoD's) Joint Forces Ammunition Logistics information system by implementing the optimized innovative information technology open architecture design and integrating Radio Frequency Identification Device data technologies and real-time optimization and control mechanisms as the critical technology components of the solution. The innovative information technology, which pursues the focused logistics, will be deployed in 36 months at the estimated cost of $568 million in constant dollars. We estimate that the Systems, Applications, Products (SAP)-based enterprise integration solution that the Army currently pursues will cost another $1.5 billion through the year 2014; however, it is unlikely to deliver the intended technical capabilities.

The objective of this life cycle environmental cost analysis (LCECA) model is to include eco‐costs into the total cost of the products. Eco‐costs are both the direct and indirect costs of the environmental impacts caused by the product in its entire life cycle. Subsequently, this LCECA model identifies the feasible alternatives for cost‐effective, eco‐friendly parts/products. This attempts to incorporate costing into the life cycle assessment (LCA) practice. Ultimately, it aims to reduce the total cost with the help of green or eco‐friendly alternatives in all the stages of the life cycle of any product. The new category of eco‐costs of the cost breakdown structure includes eight eco‐costs, namely cost of effluent/waste treatment, cost of effluent/waste control, cost of waste disposal, cost of implementation of environmental management systems, costs of eco‐taxes, costs of rehabilitation (in case of environmental accidents), cost savings of renewable energy utilization, and cost savings of recycling and reuse strategies. Development of a suitable cost model and the identification of the feasible alternatives are performed simultaneously. Various checklists based on multiple environmental criteria will be used to ensure the eco‐friendly nature of the alternatives. On the basis of the calculated environmental impact indices (EII), priorities will be made for the selection of suitable alternatives. The mathematical model of LCECA aims to define the relationships between the total cost of products and the various eco‐costs concerned with the life cycle of the products, and determine quantitative expressions between the above‐said costs. A computational LCECA model has been developed to compare the eco‐costs of the alternatives. This model will include a break‐even analysis to evaluate the alternatives, and sensitivity analysis and risk analysis modules. This model aims at a cost‐effective, eco‐friendly product as an end result. This LCECA model will be compatible with the existing LCA software tools.

The paper provides an overview of research published in the innovation and operations management (IOM) literature on 15 methods for cost management in new product development, and it provides a comparison to an earlier review of the management accounting (MA) literature (Wouters & Morales, 2014).

This structured literature search covers papers published in 23 journals in IOM in the period 1990–2014.

The search yielded a sample of 208 unique papers with 275 results (one paper could refer to multiple cost management methods). The top 3 methods are modular design, component commonality, and product platforms, with 115 results (42%) together. In the MA literature, these three methods accounted for 29%, but target costing was the most researched cost management method by far (26%). Simulation is the most frequently used research method in the IOM literature, whereas this was averagely used in the MA literature; qualitative studies were the most frequently used research method in the MA literature, whereas this was averagely used in the IOM literature. We found a lot of papers presenting practical approaches or decision models as a further development of a particular cost management method, which is a clear difference from the MA literature.

This review focused on the same cost management methods, and future research could also consider other cost management methods which are likely to be more important in the IOM literature compared to the MA literature. Future research could also investigate innovative cost management practices in more detail through longitudinal case studies.

This review of research on methods for cost management published outside the MA literature provides an overview for MA researchers. It highlights key differences between both literatures in their research of the same cost management methods.

This paper aims to study long-term savings accumulation in the UK. The authors use cross-sectional information from the extensive data set of the Family Resources Survey to compare long-term saving amongst different ethnic groups with the control group, the native population. The paper reflects on whether different groups are more likely to suffer poverty in retirement.

In this analysis, the authors apply the life-cycle framework to explain saving profiles. This theoretical model has been used extensively in the field of economics and can be applied to empirical studies to examine changes in income and saving patterns over the life-course. The framework contends that individuals make savings decisions to smooth consumption over different phases of their life-cycle.

The findings indicate that socio-economic factors are key elements in determining whether individuals plan for retirement if factors are controlled for the differences in saving behaviours between ethnic minorities and the control population decrease considerably. Asian women, with good education and social standing, display greater saving rates than the control group, while the socio-economic disadvantage suffered especially by Pakistani and Bangladeshi women is key to their inability to save long-term. High levels of poverty in retirement are more likely to be caused by the interaction of low levels of education, part-time work and long spells of unemployment than by ethnicity.

The important contribution to the debate on savings by ethnic minorities is the extension of the life-cycle model to specific sections of the population and to proffer new insights into their saving/dis-saving patterns and ultimately their welfare in retirement.

Operational energy use in buildings accounts for 28% of global energy demand. One method to reduce operational energy is upgrading old appliances to more efficient ones. In Australia, the most common residential heating type is reverse-cycle heating, followed by gas heating. This article aims to determine the energy balance resulting from a gas heating upgrade through a life cycle assessment (LCA).

Extensive primary data were collected for operational energy performance of 61 ducted gas heating upgrades. To address the scarcity of data on material composition, one ducted gas heater was deconstructed and assessed in terms of material composition (types and weights). The comparison between embodied energy and operational energy savings allows us to establish whether operational energy savings offset the embodied energy incurred with the upgrade. The end of life stage of the old appliance, as well as the production, construction and use stage of the new appliance were assessed.

The results show that the operational energy savings offset the following impact categories: global warming, ozone layer depletion, aquatic acidification, nonrenewable energy and carcinogens. Only the mineral extraction is not offset by the operational energy savings. The results clearly demonstrate that operational energy savings outweigh the embodied energy and therefore contribute positively to the environment.

This study is the first to focus on the LCA of building services through extensive primary data collection and a focus on a high number of appliances. This supports ongoing energy efficient upgrades in Australia and paves the way for further, similar studies to confirm or disprove these findings in other parts of the world.

This paper seeks to shed light on the challenges and opportunities demographic transitions bring about to the banking sector. Increasing life expectancy, coupled with an increasing old age dependency ratio has implications for the demand for financial services. This opens a window of opportunity for the banking sector to adjust its services so as to meet these changes and reap the benefit of demographic changes.

The paper uses demographic forecasts made by the United Nations Population Division, to which are applied established economic models on life cycle behaviour. Based on the findings, light is shed on potential scenarios that banks may encounter.

The life cycle models predict a higher overall asset accumulation level and a higher savings level, at least initially, in an ageing population. Other life cycle behaviour models point out that individuals' risk aversion increases with age, while evidence shows that population ageing exposes individuals to greater risks. This increases the need for households to appropriately diversify and manage the risks they face, and encourages the development of products that are better tailored to these growing needs.

The paper proposes that banks can contribute to creating financial stability. Banks can participate in financial education and consequently increase households' motivation to save more and in better ways. Consumer demand encountered by banks is shifting from credit products to savings products. The investment packages currently offered by banks need to adapt to changing needs: combined annuity and life insurance packages are one option.

The equation of unified knowledge says that S = f (A,P) which means that the practical solution to a given problem is a function of the existing, empirical, actual realities and the future, potential, best possible conditions of general stable equilibrium which both pure and practical reason, exhaustive in the Kantian sense, show as being within the realm of potential realities beyond any doubt. The first classical revolution in economic thinking, included in factor “P” of the equation, conceived the economic and financial problems in terms of a model of ideal conditions of stable equilibrium but neglected the full consideration of the existing, actual conditions. That is the main reason why, in the end, it failed. The second modern revolution, included in factor “A” of the equation, conceived the economic and financial problems in terms of the existing, actual conditions, usually in disequilibrium or unstable equilibrium (in case of stagnation) and neglected the sense of right direction expressed in factor “P” or the realization of general, stable equilibrium. That is the main reason why the modern revolution failed in the past and is failing in front of our eyes in the present. The equation of unified knowledge, perceived as a sui generis synthesis between classical and modern thinking has been applied rigorously and systematically in writing the enclosed American‐British economic, monetary, financial and social stabilization plans. In the final analysis, a new economic philosophy, based on a synthesis between classical and modern thinking, called here the new economics of unified knowledge, is applied to solve the malaise of the twentieth century which resulted from a confusion between thinking in terms of stable equilibrium on the one hand and disequilibrium or unstable equilibrium on the other.