Background: This study addresses optimising fleet size in a system with a heterogeneous truck fleet, aiming to minimise transportation costs in interfacility material transfer operations. Methods: The material transfer process is modelled using a closed queueing network (CQN) that considers...

Material handling systems (MHS) are integral to logistics functions by providing various supports such as handling, moving, and storing materials in manufacturing and service organisations. This study considers determining the optimal size of a homogeneous fleet of trucks to be outsourced (or...

We use unique firm-level data on management practices and energy expenditures in about 2,000 manufacturing firms in central and eastern Europe, Central Asia and Middle East and North Africa to examine how the quality of management practices relates to the energy intensity of firms in the...

Does state ownership hinder or help firms access credit? We use data on almost 4 million firms in 89 countries to study the relationship between state ownership and corporate leverage. Controlling for country-sector-year fixed effects and conventional firm-level determinants of leverage, we show...

Does state ownership hinder or help firms access credit? We use data on almost 4 million firms in 89 countries to study the relationship between state ownership and corporate leverage. Controlling for country-sector-year fixed effects and conventional firm-level determinants of leverage, we show...

This paper uses a novel dataset on investments considered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to examine project selection and project design at a multilateral development bank which pursues a combination of financial and environmental, social or governance (ESG) objectives....