D24 - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; CapacityReturn

In a world of intense competition, automotive manufacturers are continually increasing their outsourcing activities and, as a result, automotive companies have built extensive cost engineering departments within their organisations. Staff in these units provide Should Cost Calculations for externally manufactured components, which are utilized as supplier targets to support buyers in fact-based negotiations. This paper aims to explore potential differences in the direct and indirect cost categories in the context of Should Cost Calculations. Based on a sample survey among cost engineers, it was possible to determine differences in cost knowledge, risk of suppliers concealing unjustified costs, level of analytical detail, and suitability to conduct fact-based negotiations depending on the length of job experience, industry, and especially the type of costs. The evaluation is carried out through analysis of variance, and a contingency table homogeneity test, and the results are presented using correspondence maps. The results show significant differences between the direct and indirect cost categories, including a higher risk of cost hiding and a lower suitability for price negotiations for the indirect cost category.

Climate change poses a serious threat for aquacultural productivity. Employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, this research aims to evaluate the economic impact of climate change on aquaculture in Vietnam, drawing on time series data from 1981 to 2013 and including aquaculture yield, acreage, investment, labor, temperature, rainfall, and damage costs to aquaculture caused by natural disasters. The results show that aquaculture yield depends not only on the current value of inputs, but also on their lag values and the yield itself. The results also show that rainfall, storm surges and tropical cyclones negatively affect aquaculture production. After any natural disaster, it takes at least two years to recover from the repercussions for productivity and return to the previous norm. To reduce the vulnerability of aquacultural communities, this study suggests that the state could establish a climate resilience fund specifically for small and medium-scale aquaculture farmers, providing special financial support for those affected by natural disasters.

This article evaluates the production possibilities of the electricity sector in selected EU countries. The estimates for production functions are based on the financial data of individual companies in the selected sector. The analysis was based on a linearized version of the two-factor Cobb-Douglas production function, which was subsequently modified to compare productivity results by company size and country. The countries were selected based on the results of a cluster analysis. The cluster analysis was performed using aggregated data on the shares of energy sources in production in the electricity sector. The results show that companies from countries with a high share of renewables (such as Denmark) perform the worst in terms of total productivity. Furthermore, it was found that large companies have significantly higher productivity when compared to their smaller competitors.