Capturing Effects of Maintenance Practices in Highway Asset Valuation: Replacement-Cost Approach Versus Book-Value Method

Author(s):  
Poovadol Sirirangsi ◽  
Adjo Amekudzi ◽  
Pannapa Herabat

The replacement-cost approach and the book-value method as decision support tools for selecting maintenance alternatives under budget constraints and for capturing the effects of maintenance practices on highway asset value are investigated. By using a case study based on the Thailand Pavement Management System, the replacement-cost approach and the book-value method are applied to analyze maintenance alternatives for selected highways. The versatility of these asset-valuation methods is explored for capturing trade-offs in the type and timing of maintenance and for incorporating the added value of effective maintenance practices and the impact of deferred maintenance in the overall asset value. The study demonstrated that the replacement-cost approach is a more versatile tool for considering the maintenance-related value of highways in maintenance decision making, whereas the book value may be a simpler financial accounting tool. The two approaches may be used together to clarify how maintenance expenditures are being translated into facility replacement value or how the overall value of the infrastructure is being preserved. The study results are potentially useful to agencies interested in capturing the added value of effective maintenance practices in the overall value of their asset base.

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-34
Author(s):  
Laura Diaconu Maxim ◽  
Daniel Sterbuleac

Abstract The present paper presents a series of results concerning the labour market impact of the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in Romania, during the period 2005-2014. In order to reach this objective, we have conducted both an investigation of the specialized literature and an econometric analysis, based on a pooled OLS regression. The added value of this study results from the novelty aspects brought by the results, which indicate two new roles of FDI on the Romanian labour market: a potential “gap-widening” effect between the civil employment and number of employees and a “crawling” effect on the net income. Since the results showed a positive correlation between FDI and civil employment and also between FDI and the average number of employees, the first effect suggests that most of employees of the foreign firms work there less than one year. This may explain why foreign companies are not motivated to offer their employees much higher wages than the local firms and thus that the effect of FDI on nominal net income is very small (“crawling” effect).


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-32
Author(s):  
Rositsa Ivanova

The main objective of an enterprise is to achieve business efficiency and added value for the owners. The efficiency of enterprise’s business, considered as a separate object of the business analysis, may be expressed either as a ratio of achieved results to the resources used for their achievement, or as a ratio of input resources to the achieved results, due to the use of the same resources. As a resultative indicator, efficiency may be analysed and assessed in three aspects. The first of them refers to the efficiency of use of the enterprise’s production resources. We speak about the enterprise’s fixed tangible assets (production fixed capital), short-term assets (working capital) and workforce. The second aspect refers to the efficiency of income and expenses, and the third one – to the enterprise’s rate of return calculated on varied bases.Rate of return is a summary indicator that characterises the efficiency of the overall business of an enterprise. Enterprise’s rate of return may be analysed and assessed in two aspects. On one hand, rate of return is studied as a resultative indicator by identifying and evaluating the impact of direct factors on its dynamics. On the other hand, rate of return is analysed and assessed as a factor indicator that has impact on the dynamics of other key business indicators that characterise the enterprise’s business.Two approaches for studying and evaluating of enterprise’s rate of return as a resultative indicator exist in the theory and practice of business analysis. These are the accounting and the financial approach.The accounting approach is based on the use of profit to calculate enterprise’s rate of return. By means of this approach, the profit is compared to different bases that may be as follows, depending on the determined objectives and tasks and on the needs of information of the enterprise’s management: assets, capital, equity, expenses, revenue, etc. Furthermore, different values of profit may be also used – accounting profit, book profit, profit from principal activity, profit from sales, etc.The financial approach for analysis of business efficiency is based on the added value for capital owners.The object studied in this publication is the rate of return calculated as a percentage ratio of the book value to the average amount of enterprise’s assets (accounting approach).The studied subject is the model of the economic added value, which is a kind of connection between the accounting and the financial approach for analysis and evaluation of business efficiency.This publication is aimed at presenting a model that binds the economic added value and the enterprise’s asset-based rate of return.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Mooney ◽  
Kelda Bratley ◽  
Amin Amin ◽  
Timothy Jadot

Abstract The use of conventional process simulators is commonplace for system design and is growing in use for online monitoring and optimization applications. While these simulators are extremely useful, additional value can be extracted by combining simulator predictions with field inputs from measurement devices such as flowmeters, pressure and temperature sensors. The statistical nature of inputs (e.g., measurement uncertainty) are typically not considered in the forward calculations performed by the simulators and so may lead to erroneous results if the actual raw measurement is in error or biased. A complementary modeling methodology is proposed to identify and correct measurement and process errors as an integral part of a robust simulation practice. The studied approach ensures best quality data for direct use in the process models and simulators for operations and process surveillance. From a design perspective, this approach also makes it possible to evaluate the impact of uncertainty of measured and unmeasured variables on CAPEX spend and optimize instrument / meter design. In this work, an extended statistical approach to process simulation is examined using Data Validation and Reconciliation, (DVR). The DVR methodology is compared to conventional non-statistical, deterministic process simulators. A key difference is that DVR uses any measured variable (inlet, outlet, or in between measurements), including its uncertainty, in the modelled process as an input, where only inlet measurement values are used by traditional simulators to estimate the values of all other measured and unmeasured variables. A walk through the DVR calculations and applications is done using several comparative case studies of a typical surface process facility. Examples are the simulation of commingled multistage oil and gas separation process, the validation of separators flowmeters and fluids samples, and the quantification of unmeasured variables along with their uncertainties. The studies demonstrate the added value from using redundancy from all available measurements in a process model based on the DVR method. Single points and data streaming field cases highlight the dependency and complementing roles of traditional simulators, and data validation provided by the DVR methodology; it is shown how robust measurement management strategies can be developed based on DVR's effective surveillance capabilities. Moreover, the cases demonstrate how DVR-based capex and opex improvements are derived from effective hardware selection using cost versus measurement precision trade-offs, soft measurements substitutes, and from condition-based maintenance strategies.


Author(s):  
Gustav T. Rohde ◽  
Michael I. Pinard ◽  
Elzbieta Sadzik

Most road agencies operate under a scenario in which the maintenance need exceeds the available maintenance funds. In this environment pavement managers are forced to select maintenance and rehabilitation actions on the basis of a defined methodology. This is typically done through a ranking process or through modern optimization routines. In the ranking process the maintenance priority of a road is determined on the basis of the importance and condition of the road. Projects with a high priority rating are carried out first, and projects are then carried out until the available funds are depleted. The more sophisticated pavement management systems use optimization routines that allow for interproject trade-offs when generating a maintenance plan. The importance of the choice of maintenance selection methodology for the long-term network condition is described. Data from an actual road network were used and were subjected to various ranking and optimization functions. This included policies such as fix worst first, use priority index, maximize asset value, minimize transportation costs, and the traditional maximization of area under a condition curve approach. The outcome was evaluated in terms of network condition, network asset value, overall transportation costs, and road user cost. It is shown that the maintenance policy should be compatible with agencies’ long-term maintenance objectives.


Author(s):  
Sang Nguyen Minh

This study uses the DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) method to estimate the technical efficiency index of 34 Vietnamese commercial banks in the period 2007-2015, and then it analyzes the impact of income diversification on the operational efficiency of Vietnamese commercial banks through a censored regression model - the Tobit regression model. Research results indicate that income diversification has positive effects on the operational efficiency of Vietnamese commercial banks in the research period. Based on study results, in this research some recommendations forpolicy are given to enhance the operational efficiency of Vietnam’s commercial banking system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1063-1078
Author(s):  
T.N. Skorobogatova ◽  
I.Yu. Marakhovskaya

Subject. This article discusses the role of social infrastructure in the national economy and analyzes the relationship between the notions of Infrastructure, Service Industry and Non-Productive Sphere. Objectives. The article aims to outline a methodology for development of the social infrastructure of Russia's regions. Methods. For the study, we used the methods of statistical and comparative analyses. The Republic of Crimea and Rostov Oblast's social infrastructure development was considered as a case study. Results. The article finds that the level of social infrastructure is determined by a number of internal and external factors. By analyzing and assessing such factors, it is possible to develop promising areas for the social sphere advancement. Conclusions. Assessment and analysis of internal factors largely determined by the region's characteristics, as well as a comprehensive consideration of the impact of external factors will help ensure the competitiveness of the region's economy.


Author(s):  
Mohinder C. Dhiman ◽  
Abhishek Ghai

The paper has a two fold purpose - examine the impact of bar service operation practices (BSOP) on organizational performance (OP) and study the relationship between organizational performance and demographic variables. Based on a survey of 362 bar managers perceptions on the impact of bar service operation practices on organizational performance were assessed by 59 practices and 6 demographic variables. Bivariate test and ANOVA were employed to test the working hypothesis in the study. Results indicated that there is a positive relationship between the bar service operation practices and organizational performance. Further, the results indicate some practical and managerial implications to improve organizational overall performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingye Li ◽  
Jian Gong ◽  
Jean-Michel Guldmann ◽  
Shicheng Li ◽  
Jie Zhu

Land use/cover change (LUCC) has an important impact on the terrestrial carbon cycle. The spatial distribution of regional carbon reserves can provide the scientific basis for the management of ecosystem carbon storage and the formulation of ecological and environmental policies. This paper proposes a method combining the CA-based FLUS model and the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model to assess the temporal and spatial changes in ecosystem carbon storage due to land-use changes over 1990–2015 in the Qinghai Lake Basin (QLB). Furthermore, future ecosystem carbon storage is simulated and evaluated over 2020–2030 under three scenarios of natural growth (NG), cropland protection (CP), and ecological protection (EP). The long-term spatial variations in carbon storage in the QLB are discussed. The results show that: (1) Carbon storage in the QLB decreased at first (1990–2000) and increased later (2000–2010), with total carbon storage increasing by 1.60 Tg C (Teragram: a unit of mass equal to 1012 g). From 2010 to 2015, carbon storage displayed a downward trend, with a sharp decrease in wetlands and croplands as the main cause; (2) Under the NG scenario, carbon reserves decrease by 0.69 Tg C over 2020–2030. These reserves increase significantly by 6.77 Tg C and 7.54 Tg C under the CP and EP scenarios, respectively, thus promoting the benign development of the regional ecological environment. This study improves our understanding on the impact of land-use change on carbon storage for the QLB in the northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP).


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5726
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Wewer ◽  
Pinar Bilge ◽  
Franz Dietrich

Electromobility is a new approach to the reduction of CO2 emissions and the deceleration of global warming. Its environmental impacts are often compared to traditional mobility solutions based on gasoline or diesel engines. The comparison pertains mostly to the single life cycle of a battery. The impact of multiple life cycles remains an important, and yet unanswered, question. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate advances of 2nd life applications for lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles based on their energy demand. Therefore, it highlights the limitations of a conventional life cycle analysis (LCA) and presents a supplementary method of analysis by providing the design and results of a meta study on the environmental impact of lithium ion batteries. The study focuses on energy demand, and investigates its total impact for different cases considering 2nd life applications such as (C1) material recycling, (C2) repurposing and (C3) reuse. Required reprocessing methods such as remanufacturing of batteries lie at the basis of these 2nd life applications. Batteries are used in their 2nd lives for stationary energy storage (C2, repurpose) and electric vehicles (C3, reuse). The study results confirm that both of these 2nd life applications require less energy than the recycling of batteries at the end of their first life and the production of new batteries. The paper concludes by identifying future research areas in order to generate precise forecasts for 2nd life applications and their industrial dissemination.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katy Tobin ◽  
Sinead Maguire ◽  
Bernie Corr ◽  
Charles Normand ◽  
Orla Hardiman ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition with a mean life expectancy of 3 years from first symptom. Understanding the factors that are important to both patients and their caregivers has the potential to enhance service delivery and engagement, and improve efficiency. The Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) is a stated preferences method which asks service users to make trade-offs for various attributes of health services. This method is used to quantify preferences and shows the relative importance of the attributes in the experiment, to the service user. Methods A DCE with nine choice sets was developed to measure the preferences for health services of ALS patients and their caregivers and the relative importance of various aspects of care, such as timing of care, availability of services, and decision making. The DCE was presented to patients with ALS, and their caregivers, recruited from a national multidisciplinary clinic. A random effects probit model was applied to estimate the impact of each attribute on a participant’s choice. Results Patients demonstrated the strongest preferences about timing of receiving information about ALS. A strong preference was also placed on seeing the hospice care team later rather than early on in the illness. Patients also indicated their willingness to consider the use of communication devices. Grouping by stage of disease, patients who were in earlier stages of disease showed a strong preference for receipt of extensive information about ALS at the time of diagnosis. Caregivers showed a strong preference for engagement with healthcare professionals, an attribute that was not prioritised by patients. Conclusions The DCE method can be useful in uncovering priorities of patients and caregivers with ALS. Patients and caregivers have different priorities relating to health services and the provision of care in ALS, and patient preferences differ based on the stage and duration of their illness. Multidisciplinary teams must calibrate the delivery of care in the context of the differing expectations, needs and priorities of the patient/caregiver dyad.


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