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Working Papers | 2016

Incorporating gender and age in genetic algorithms to solve the indexing problem

Diptesh Ghosh

In this paper we propose new genetic algorithms for the tool indexing problem. Genetic
algorithms are said to be nature-inspired, in that they are modeled after the natural process of
genetic evolution. The evolution process that they model is asexual in which individuals can
potentially live forever. In this paper, we propose a genetic algorithm in which solutions are of
two genders, reproduction happens by a combination of solutions with dierent genders, and
each solution has a nite life. We compare our genetic algorithms with the best known genetic
algorithm for the tool indexing problem and report our computational experience.
Keywords: Genetic algorithm, permutation problem, crossover, mutation

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Working Papers | 2016

Ownership Structure and Internationalization of Indian Firms

Chitra Singla, Rejie George, and Rajaram Veliyath

This paper examines the relationship between ownership structure and the firm internationalization, in a longitudinal sample of Indian firms. Drawing from principal-principal (PP) agency theory and the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, we argue that divergent motivations among the firm's owners affect the firm's inclination to pursue internationalization, while resource heterogeneity among the firm's owners affects the firm's capability to pursue internationalization. Since both motivation and capability are required for a firm to pursue any strategic initiative, we argue that differences in ownership, which influences both the motivation and the capability of firms, impact firm's internationalization strategies in different ways. In addition, through examining two modes of internationalization, i.e., outward foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports from a prominent emerging economy, we uncover an interesting dichotomy. While family and other domestic owners favor exports (and not FDI), foreign owners favor both exports and FDI. Further, we find that family owners have a dominant influence on internationalization and their preferences appear to supersede those of the other owners.

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Working Papers | 2016

Trends in Strategies and Performance of the Indian Corporate Sector
What has changed in two decades of economic reforms?

Rakesh Basant and Pulak Mishra

In the context of various policy initiatives made during the last two decades to reform the Indian economy in general and corporate sector in particular, this paper documents strategies followed by firms in this period and the resultant changes in business conditions. We find that although the rate of growth of the industry sector has not accelerated following economic reforms probably due to slow growth in agriculture and industrial productivity, investment in general and FDI in particular have shown considerable increase. Increase in competitive pressures seems to have resulted in firms adopting a variety of strategies. While reliance on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) has increased to restructure business and grow, the role of embodied technology purchase has declined in relative terms with firms depending somewhat more on in-house R&D, disembodied technology purchase and FDI linked technology inflows. There are some signs of a growing domestic technology market as well. Although strategies of building marketing and distribution related complementary assets continue to be important for implementing the strategy of product differentiation, their role seems to have declined in a relative sense as these expenses as a proportion of sales show a declining trend. The emerging competitive pressures have significantly raised the importance of sub-contracting/outsourcing in manufacturing possibly as an alternative to the strategy of vertical integration, a measure of in-house value addition. While cost-efficiencies do not show improvements, export orientation has increased significantly across industries and import penetration has seen a marginal decline. Overall, the observed trends of corporate response to economic reforms are interesting, but one needs to systematically explore how M&As led consolidation and flows of FDI are linked to the adoption of various non-price strategies relating to technology and product differentiation. As economic reforms deepen and competitive pressures build up, an analysis of these interactions would provide useful insights for understanding corporate behaviour and for making policy choices.

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Working Papers | 2016

Impact of Independent Directors' Resignations on Firm's Governance

Preet Deep Singh and Chitra Singla

Directors are liable for any act of omission or commission. They have a reputation to protect. While Independent directors might engage in passive monitoring; when apprised of a decision where the probability of detection of negligence is higher, they might prefer to abandon ship rather than suffer consequences. Under such circumstances, directors' resignations could lead to some consequences on firm's governance. We test this using a sample of more than 2300 resignations during 2006-2014 from firms listed on National Stock Exchange, India. We specifically identify clustered resignations, i.e., when 2 or more people leave the board within the same year for company-specific reasons and see its association with earnings management in the following year.

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Working Papers | 2016

A THEORY OF TAX EVASION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Errol D'Souza

The literature on tax evasion assumes that taxpayers wish to evade their taxes entirely and the only reason they do not do so is that there is some non-zero probability of being caught by the government. Also, it is assumed that government uses the taxes and fines from caught evaders on goods that it consumes which produce no utility to taxpayer-citizens. In a developing country, however, we argue that taxpayers use tax evasion to compensate for imperfect financial markets as well as government expenditure patterns that do not benefit them. We demonstrate that imperfect financial markets result in situations where when individuals find the chance of earning high returns from investments, it causes them to overcome their aversion to risk and participate in actuarially unfair tax evasion gambles. Also, tax evasion increases when either public goods are underprovided, or the government is sufficiently predatory , or the government directs policies at groups that the taxpayer is not a member of. In such a situation tax evasion is viewed by the taxpayer as a means of shifting the allocation of his income in favor of investments and away from government expenditure policies that give little benefit to him.

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Working Papers | 2016

Understanding Coefficient Alpha: Assumptions and Interpretations

Dheeraj Sharma

A procedure is developed for determining appropriate levels of scale reliability by examining coefficient alpha in conjunction with the standardized regression coefficient for each variable. Present study aims to examine the effect of addition and deletion of items on coefficient alpha. Also, necessary assumptions for appropriate interpretation of coefficient alpha are examined. Present research suggests that deleting scale items to increase coefficient alpha may result in an under specification of the construct the scale attempts to measure. Furthermore, this research offers prescriptive and descriptive insights for appropriate use of coefficient alpha.

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Working Papers | 2016

Examination of Affordable Housing Policies in India

Anindo Sarkar, Udayan Dhavalikar, Vikram Agrawal, and Sebastian Morris

In this paper we critique the Government of Indias programmes for affordable housing in India, namely the Rajiv Awas Yojana and Housing for All 2022. We analyse the efficacy of these policies in being able to provide thee sections of the population who are unable to avail housing from the formal market, both through direct support and most importantly in addressing the many distortions that have made the housing unnecessarily expensive, while taking away much of the value to consumers. We argue that while these programmes and policies are a major advancement over the previous approaches, they do not fully exploit the potential that is there in increased FSI, sensitivity of low cost housing development to exploiting locational value appropriately, to use of government land judiciously, to the reform of titles and squatter rights, and to more efficient land use changes. They are also constrained by an inability to distinguish between what the markets can be coaxed to deliver and where state intervention becomes necessary.

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Working Papers | 2016

An Introduction to the Aluminum Industry and Survey of OR Applications in an Integrated Aluminum Plant

Payal Apujani, Goutam Dutta, and Narain Gupta

Worldwide, the manufacturing industry is now aiming for competitive advantage and increased profits. To remain competitive, a manufacturing company needs to use tools that provide it with a distinctive competitive edge. This research first discusses the manufacturing process of aluminum, the world and the Indian aluminum industry, technological changes in the aluminum industry. In the second part we discuss a literature survey of various operation research models in the aluminum industry. The survey has been done through the published research works from 1967 till the present year. The purpose of this study is to survey models which are related to the aluminum industry either in methodology or in practice. The study lists the opportunities for OR/MS in the aluminum industry and the major challenging areas for research. It also motivates researchers to explore more such problems in operations research and management science related to aluminum manufacturing.

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Working Papers | 2016

Is "Make in India" constrained by Indian Labour Market Regulations?

Ajeet N. Mathur

This paper examines whether "Make in India" policies are constrained by over-regulation or under-regulation in the Indian labour market. Specific labour law provisions and the scope of circumventing them as evidenced from strategy-as-practised are analysed. The paper concludes that the Indian Labour Market is undergoverned and over-controlled because: (1) the nature of implicit "quid pro quo" grant of oligopolistic protection in the product market in the license raj period against reciprocal guarantees of lifelong employment protection has been nullified without being jettisoned from the tripartite frame; (2) the weakened countervailing power of trade unions has affected social dialogue required to balance the interests of organized and unorganized workers, and (3) the failure of successive governments to put employment in mission mode has shrunk the real price of skilled labour to unprecedented lows and in some cases even below statutory minimum wages. Skill premia in wages required for quality cannot be sustained in conditions akin to chattel slavery due to underregulation and the pace of change required cannot be attained in scale economies due to overregulation.

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Working Papers | 2016

Stewardship Value of Income Statement Classifications: An Empirical Examination

Neerav Nagar and Avinash Arya

A classified income statement has up to four distinct components of earnings - income from continuing operations, special items, discontinued operations, and extraordinary items. This study investigates how persistence and controllability affect the stewardship role of earnings components. The results correspond to our intuition regarding persistence and controllability of earnings components. Among above the line items, income from continuing items, the most persistent item, also receives the most weight, followed by special items which have smaller persistence. Among below the line items, discontinued items, which are at least under partial control of the CEO receive a positive weight while extraordinary items, which are largely beyond the control of the CEO, are filtered in compensation. Since special items make up the vast majority of nonrecurring items, we select them for further analysis. It appears that compensation committees modify the weight on special items based on their frequency and historical pattern. When we disaggregate special items by type we find that some items flow through to compensation while others are filtered. Combining disparate item into one, as has been done in prior literature may mask their true economic significance.

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