C. C. Gotlieb

Productivity and Computers in Canadian Banking

Canadian banks have invested millions in computer systems in the last two decades. Yet the banks and outside observers have been uncertain that these investments have had net benefits. In this paper, unique data collected directly from a bank is used to investigate the impact of these investments on bank output, input and productivity. Using data from 1974–1987, a translog cost model is estimated. Both capital and labor are divided into information and noninformation inputs. The results are generally consistent with economic theory. The attempt to separate technical change from possible scale effects is very sensitive to alternative specification. Overall there has been some productivity growth associated with the changing computer technology. However, many of the benefits seem to have accrued to the customer and have not directly lead to gains for the bank.

A unifying model of physical databases

A unifying model for the study of database performance is proposed. Applications of the model are shown to relate and extend important work concerning batched searching, transposed files, index selection, dynamic hash-based files, generalized access path structures, differential files, network databases, and multifile query processing.

Tests on a computer method for constructing school timetables

A previously proposed computer method for constructing timetables, based on an iteration involving Boolean matrices, is described. In limited tests the method has successfully produced timetables on every trial. References are given which relate the timetable problem to theorems on matrices of zeros and ones, and to theorems on bipartite graphs. Some problems of applying the method to constructing timetables in real situations are noted.

Order-preserving key transformations

File organizations based on conventional hash functions provide faster access to the stored records in comparison with tree-like file structures. Tree structures such as B<supscrpt>+</supscrpt>-trees and ISAM do provide for sequential processing, but require considerable storage for the indices. When sequential processing is needed a table that performs an order-preserving transformation on keys can be used. H is an order-preserving key transform if H(K<subscrpt>1</subscrpt>) ⩾ H(K<subscrpt>2</subscrpt>), for all keys K<subscrpt>1</subscrpt>> K<subscrpt>2</subscrpt>. We present methodologies for constructing such key transforms, and illustrate them for some real-life key sets. Storage requirements for the table needed to carry out the transformation are less than those needed for the indices.

Algorithms for finding a fundamental set of cycles for an undirected linear graph

Given the adjacency matrix of the graph, the algorithm presented in this paper finds a spanning tree and then constructs the set of fundamental cycles. Our algorithm is slower than an algorithm presented by Welch by a ratio of N/3 (N is the number of nodes) but requires less storage. For graphs with a large number of nodes and edges, when storage is limited our algorithm is superior to Welchs; however, when the graphs are small, or machine storage is very large, Welchs algorithm is superior. Timing estimates and storage requirements for both methods are presented.

Choosing a storage schema

SummaryIn using a general-purpose language such as PL/I, a data base management system such as IMS, or a special-purpose language such as SNOBOL, program designers must decide on strategies for storing their data. This paper contains a description of an algorithm for choosing suitable data linking methods from a class of available storage schemata. Emphasis is placed on specifying the types of parameters which are involved in this choice, such as the volatility of the data, the density of the keys, and the amount of storage available.

Computers and employment

The relationship of computers and automation to employment is part of the more general relation of technological change to employment. The most obvious effect is that increases in productivity due to technology can eliminate jobs. Technology affects the individual worker, in the nature and amount of his work, and in his attitudes toward that work. Technological change affects the occupational structure of the entire labor force. Because of the central importance of these effects, the impact of technology has been the subject of extensive study by economists, sociologists, political scientists, and psychologists. Even within a single discipline, studies are often contradictory, and conclusions are colored by political overtones. We wish to delineate some of the issues, and present arguments given to support different viewpoints.

General-Purpose Programming for Business Applications

Publisher Summary In scientific and business programming, there has been a complete shift away from machine code towards built-up programming systems. These are more complicated in their structure but easier to use. The chapter discusses the the relation between machine code and different kinds of programming systems. The different programming systems include machine code, assembly systems, interpreters, compilers, and generators. The features of data processing problems that determine the structure of programs and the mode of machine operation are system requirements, speed and storage, and program checking and maintenance. The chapter discusses file organization and maintenance, suggesting that the magnetic tape is not the only form of magnetic recording in general use, but is the chief storage medium for large volume data in computers at present, because of its low cost and high speed. In addition, the parameters of file organization and maintenance such as file maintenance, sorting, routines for handling files and immediate access files are discussed. The chapter outlines some of the systems common in installations engaged in data processing for business such as SOAP (symbolic optimum assembly program), IBM 705 AUTOCODER and GUIDE, FLOW-MATIC system, and GENERALIZED PROGRAMMING. Overall, computer construction has preceded programming methods and, after a machine is designed, programming techniques are developed to get around the restrictions imposed by the hardware, and to take advantage of the technical improvements incorporated in the new design.

Minimal event-node network of project precedence relations

A procedure for constructing a minimal event-node network to represent a set of precedence relations without parallel activities is presented. A minimal event-node network is an event-node network in which both the number of nodes and the number of arcs are the minima to preserve the given precedence relations. Counterexamples are given to show that the algorithm presented by A.C. Fisher, J.S. Liebman, and G.L. Nemhauser (1968) produces event-node networks which are not minimal. Since our procedure includes the set-covering problem, the time required may grow exponentially with the number of given activities.

Do scientific and scholarly codes of ethics take social issues into account

Codes of ethics and ethics guidelines define standards of professional conduct, and ways to prioritize or balance ethical principles when these appear to be in conflict. In 1991 an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars met at the University of Toronto to discuss these problems in a Workshop on Ethical Considerations in Scholarship and Science. A document, “The Toronto Resolution”; (TTR), was developed, providing twelve principles for incorporation into scientific and scholarly codes, with the object of ensuring that professionals in science recognize the potential consequences of their work in the broader social context. To examine the extent to which existing codes are consonant with The Toronto Resolutions 12 principles, a content analysis was conducted on the codes of 21 Ontario‐based scientific and scholarly organizations. Criteria used in the content analysis were standardized and determined to be reliable. Only a weak correspondence was found between the contents of the codes of the...