Improving model-based component testability can further model-based approaches to software component testing (SCT) for desirable testing effectiveness. Component contracts are useful testing-support artefacts to improve component testability. This paper presents a new contract-based SCT technique, Test by Contract (TbC), which extends the Design by Contract concept to the SCT domain, and levera...

In January 2009 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts launched a new payment arrangement called the Alternative Quality Contract. The contract stipulates a modified global payment (fixed payments for the care of a patient during a specified time period) arrangement. The model differs from past models of fixed payments or capitation because it explicitly connects payments to achieving quality ...

This is a purely theoretical project aimed at studying economic models with asymmetric information. The construction and study of the models of this type are a problem of great theoretical significance developing microeconomic theory and the theory of general economic equilibrium. Our analysis is based on a contractual approach proposed and developed by Marakulin in a series of papers. Studies ...

The actual construction time and cost of construction projects may be affected by the client, project and contractual characteristics and in many cases can be very different from the contract time and cost. In this paper, details of 93 Australian construction projects are used to develop several models for actual construction time and cost prediction. A forward crossvalidation regression analys...

This paper examines contract practices between suppliers and retailers in the agricultural seed industry. We construct and analyze single-retailer models of various contract types actually used in the industry, which include, for example, certain “bonus” and “penalty” features. With no assumption on the demand distribution, we establish sufficient conditions for contract parameters to guarantee...

Easy access of Internet has revolutionized the concept of electronic commerce. As the bulk of business transactions shifts to electronic media, we have business collaborations being negotiated between previously unknown partners. Thus a Contract is the key to a successful business relationship. We foresee a need for a unified contract management in order to achieve coherent business operations....

As highlighted in the February 2010 Aberdeen study, Transportation Procurement and Payment: Gain Control over Spend, transportation contract management is growing in both importance and scale as more companies (about 60%) have expanded or have plans to expand the global transportation spend they have under contract. In response to this trend, there is an increased interest in outsourcing models...