This paper presents a linear programming approach to analyze and optimizeow lines with limited buer capacities and stochastic processing times. The basic ideais to solve a huge but simple linear program that models an entire simulation run of amulti-stage production process in discrete time, to...

We present a stochastic version of the single-level, multi-product dynamic lotsizingproblem subject to a capacity constraint. A production schedule has tobe determined for random demand so that expected costs are minimized and aconstraint based on a new backlog-oriented Sigma-service-level...

We present a detailed analysis of the patient and resource scheduling problemin rehabilitation hospitals. In practice, the predominantly therapeutical treatmentsand activities which are prescribed for the patients are typically scheduled manually.This leads to rigid and inefficient schedules...

This paper presents a new algorithm for the dynamic Multi-Level Ca-pacitated Lot Sizing Problem with Setup Carry-Overs (MLCLSP-L). TheMLCLSP-L is a big-bucket model that allows the production of any num-ber of products within a period, but it incorporates partial sequencing of theproduction...

This paper presents an optimization-based solution approach for the dynamicmulti-level capacitated lot sizing problem (MLCLSP) with positive leadtimes. The key idea is to solve a series of mixed-integer programs in an iterativefix-and-optimize algorithm. Each of these programs is optimized over...

This paper presents a profit-oriented shift scheduling approachfor inbound contact centers. The focus is on systems in which multiple agentclasses with different qualifications serve multiple customer classes with differentneeds. We assume that customers are impatient, abandon if they haveto...

In this paper we analyze the distribution of fertility rates across theworld using parametric mixture models. We demonstrate the existence of twinpeaks and the division of the world's countries in two distinct components: ahigh-fertility regime and a low fertility regime. Whereas the signicance...

This study provides a unied growth theory to correctly predictthe initially negative and subsequently positive relationship between child mortalityand net reproduction observed in industrialized countries over the courseof their demographic transitions. The model captures the intricate...

This paper theoretically investigates how community approval or disapprovalaects school attendance and child labor and how aggregate behavior of thecommunity feeds back towards the formation and persistence of an anti- (or pro-)schooling norm. The proposed community-model continues to take...

This article investigates economic performance when enforceable propertyrights are missing and basic needs matter for consumption. It suggests anew view of the so-called voracity eect according to which windfall gains inproductivity induce behavior that leads to lower economic growth. Takinginto...