This paper studies outsourcing decisions for a two-level service process in which the first level serves as a gatekeeper for a second level of experts. The objective of the system operator (the client) is to minimize the sum of staffing costs, customer waiting costs, and mistreatment costs due...

This paper provides evidence that scores on simple, low-stakes tests are associated with future economic success because the scores also reflect test takers' personality traits associated with their level of intrinsic motivation. To establish this, I use the coding speed test that was...

Integrated assessment models that combine geophysics and economics features are often used to evaluate and compare global warming policies. Because there are typically profound uncertainties in these models, a simulation approach is often used. This approach requires the distribution of the...

This study measures the performance of U.S. firms initiating same-sex domestic partnership benefit (SSDPB) policies. The results show that holding these firms upon their SSDPB initiation in a calendar portfolio earns a four-factor annualized excess return (alpha) of approximately 10% over the...

We discuss the problem of combining the conflicting objectives of equity and utilitarianism, for social policy making, in a single mathematical programming model. The definition of equity we use is the Rawlsian one of maximizing the minimum utility over individuals or classes of individuals....

The problem of decreasing the amount of testing for vision loss in persons susceptible to glaucoma is formulated as an integer optimization problem. Nonlinear and linear versions of the problem formulation are given, and both heuristic and exact algorithms are proposed. Testing with...

In Management Science (Vol. 24, No. 14, October, 1978), Nichols and Weinstein describe a model of a hypertension detection and treatment program, in which individuals proceed through a series of stages with transition probabilities that depend on expenditures at each stage. We generalize the...

This paper analyzes the impact of forecasting on inventory decisions in a large physical distribution system. Alternative forecasting models are evaluated by developing tradeoff curves between inventory investment and customer service. The results demonstrate that the choice of forecasting model...