Organizational network research has demonstrated that multiple benefits accrue to people occupying brokerage positions. However, the extant literature offers scant evidence of the process postulated to drive such benefits –information brokerage– and therefore leaves unaddressed the question of how brokers broker. We address this gap by examining the information-brokerage interactions in which a...

Legal and historical evidence suggest that real estate brokers played a substantial role in the white flight. This paper introduces real estate brokers in a tipping model of segregation. The model features voluntary disclosure of information by the broker in a game with private information and strategic complementarities. Real estate brokers can shift the equilibrium by disclosing information o...

This paper examines the role of innovation brokers in stimulating innovation system interaction and innovation capacity building, and illustrates this by taking the case of Dutch agriculture as an example. Subsequently, it reflects upon the potential role of innovation brokers in developing countries’ agriculture. It concludes that innovation brokerage roles are likely to become relevant in eme...

Many investors purchase mutual funds through intermediated channels, paying brokers or financial advisors for fund selection and advice. This article attempts to quantify the benefits that investors enjoy in exchange for the costs of these services. We study broker-sold and direct-sold funds from 1996 to 2004, and fail to find that brokers deliver substantial tangible benefits. Relative to dire...

Content-based routing realized through static networks of brokers usually exhibit nice performance when subscribers with similar interest are physically close to each other (e.g. in the same LAN, domain or in the same geographical area) and connected to a broker which is also nearby. If these subscribers are dispersed on the Internet, benefits of such routing strategy significantly decrease. In...

Motivated by the growth of various networked systems as potential market places, we study market models wherein, owing to the size of the markets, transactions take place between largely unknown agents. In such scenarios, intermediaries or brokers play a significant role in a transaction. We analyze market behavior in large networks wherein all sellers are not known to the buyers and vice-versa...

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) resulting from ergonomic hazards are common in the United States. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicate that in 2011, one third of occupational injuries and illnesses resulting in lost time from work were WMSDs. Based on data from the 2010 BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, a higher rate of WMSDs resulting i...

This paper presents and quantifies some of the opportunities of E-business tools to material flow effectiveness. The study was developed at a Brazilian drug distribution system. Results are based on comparing historical data against the simulation of an alternative, which manages the distribution process employing an E-business solution embedded with simple replenishment methods to coordinate t...

Publish/Subscribe (pub/sub) systems operating in hostile multi-domain environments face various types of internal and external threats. This paper focuses on internal threats manifested when pub/sub brokers misbehave by deviating from their prescribed protocol. Broker misbehavior may partially or fully compromise the pub/sub service integrity. In this paper, we exploit the notion of overlay nei...

The aim of this study was to explore the reasons behind medicine shortages from the perspective of pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical wholesalers in Finland. The study took the form of semi-structured interviews. Forty-one pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical wholesalers were invited to participate in the study. The pharmaceutical companies were the member organizations of Pharm...